RICHMOND, Va. -- A child under the age of 10 who died in eastern Virginia is the second fatal juvenile case this week.
The unidentified child’s death occurred Wednesday, two days after the death shortly after that of 10-year-old Teresa Sperry died at a Hampton Roads hospital Monday from COVID-19.
According to her parents, Sperry was in charge of guiding sick classmates to the clinic at her elementary school.
More than 1,000 children in the state have been hospitalized with the virus in Virginia.
And even though the pandemic began early last year, 12 of the state’s 13 juvenile deaths from COVID-19 have occurred in 2021.
Hospitalization rates for children 11 years old or younger are at the highest rate since the pandemic began, according to the CDC. In Virginia, the numbers of young kids experiencing the most severe symptoms of COVID-19 have also been on the rise in September, data show.
It must be noted that the level of infection and severe cases among young children remains very low compared to adult populations.
