SLO County COVID cases in kids are increasing. Here’s what you need to know
San Luis Obispo County kids are testing positive for COVID-19 at much higher rates than adults, according to local Public Health Department data analyzed by The Tribune.
This revelation comes as kids fill local classrooms for the beginning of the new school year.
Many people under the age of 17 are unable to be vaccinated because of the age restrictions on the COVID-19 vaccines authorized for emergency use by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration. Only those 12 years old and older can be vaccinated.
Since June 15, when California officially reopened its economy following statewide lockdowns, COVID-19 cases among kids in San Luis Obispo County have increased by more than 16%, according to county data released Aug. 13.
Comparatively, county residents 30 to 49 years old accounted for the second-highest COVID-19 case rate increase since June 15 at 9.6%, the data show.
Since the number of active coronavirus cases in San Luis Obispo County peaked on Jan. 11, COVID-19 cases among local kids have more than doubled.
Cases involving residents age 17 and under increased from 1,074 to 2,212 total, according to county public health data.
COVID-19 cases involving adults have also increased substantially since Jan. 11, but at a slower rate. Cases in 18- to 29-year-olds increased more than 71% during that timeframe.
Children typically do not get sick enough from COVID-19 to be hospitalized. Only 11 county residents 17 and younger have been hospitalized to date, compared to more than 800 local adults who have been hospitalized due to the virus.
Additionally, no child in San Luis Obispo County has reportedly died from COVID-19.
Vaccines have likely helped slow case rates
Though local coronavirus cases are increasing now, it’s a much different story compared to COVID-19 rates this same time last year.
From Aug. 1, 2020, to Aug. 16, 2020, COVID-19 cases reported in kids in San Luis Obispo County rose 28.5% — a much bigger increase than what is being reported in 2021.
What changed?
“The big difference is vaccination,” said Dr. Rene Bravo, a local pediatrician. “There’s a significant number of people that are vaccinated, making it more challenging for the virus to transmit to the population. Last year, the only controls we had were distancing and masks.”
Of San Luis Obispo County residents 12 to 17 years old, 38.7% have been fully vaccinated against the virus, according to the California Department of Public Health. A COVID-19 vaccine has been available for that age group starting in May.
Comparatively, 49.1% of county residents 18 to 49 years old, 66.1% of those 50 to 64 years old and 76.8% of those 65 and older have been fully vaccinated, according to the state.
Vaccines have long lessened the impact of devastating diseases such as polio, tetanus and hepatitis A and B. Once vaccines were developed and widely administered for those diseases, their spread and deadliness rapidly decreased, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
COVID-19 is no exception, experts say.
“We don’t know for sure how everyone will react to this illness,” Bravo said. “And just like all human illnesses, some people get things mildly, some people get things severely. Some people have complications of what most people would consider very mild illnesses. So the human spectrum of responses is very unpredictable.”
Bravo said he would never advise parents to “just take a chance” simply because kids are less likely to experience severe symptoms of COVID-19. He’s treated a patient who contracted multi-system inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C), which has been linked to kids who became sick with COVID-19.
That patient needed to be airlifted out of San Luis Obispo County to receive special care, he said.
Other local doctors talked about treating kids who had contracted MIS-C or other severe symptoms of COVID-19 during a Teens, Tweens & The COVID-19 Vaccines panel discussion hosted by the San Luis Obispo County Office of Education on Aug. 10.
“I had an actual patient with an inflammatory consequence of COVID — a very bad abdominal infection,” Dr. Tamara Battle of Central Coast Pediatrics said during the Aug. 10 discussion. “And I can still remember being in the room with him and his mother and able to get that patient admitted locally but telling that mom I didn’t know if he could stay local. I didn’t know if he was going to go to an ICU. He was very sick and very ill.”
“As a pediatrician, we drive our business through health,” Battle added. “So if there’s one thing that can be done to maybe avoid that level of illness in a child, which is a vaccine, I’m going to support that.”
The doctors in the panel discussion expressed concern that as the number of kids who contract COVID-19 continues to rise, the number of kids who contract serious side affects of the disease may also rise.
Getting your kid vaccinated against COVID-19 will protect them from serious illness, Bravo, Battle and the other doctors at the Aug. 10 discussion agreed.
How to protect kids under 12 who can’t be vaccinated
The best way to protect kids under 12 years old who cannot be vaccinated is to ensure those around them are vaccinated and implement other protective measures like increased hand washing, wearing masks and social distancing when possible, according to San Luis Obispo County Public Health Department spokeswoman Michelle Shoresman.
“All these layers are a lot like Swiss cheese,” Shoresman said. “None of them are perfect but when you stack them on top of each other, they’re likely to be protected.”
Schools in San Luis Obispo County are required by law to enforce the California Department of Public Health’s mask mandate, according to attorneys who advise local school districts.
Although local school districts have faced vocal opposition from some parents on this mandate, students are required to wear face coverings while indoors on campus. School employees must wear masks while indoors in the vicinity of students, according to the state’s guidelines.
Most public schools in San Luis Obispo County start in-person instruction this week, meaning thousands of students will soon be filling classrooms.
On Aug. 11, Atascadero Unified School District’s first day of in-person instruction, students at Atascadero Middle School said that while they would rather not wear mask, they were OK doing so because it allowed them to be back in school with their friends.
It’s a sentiment Bravo passionately echoes.
“Kids need to go back to school. We need to get them in school. We need to get them learning and participating in childhood again,” he said. “And we have to do everything we can to keep this virus from preventing that from happening.”
This story was originally published August 17, 2021 at 9:05 AM.
