5 children have died in the UK from Covid

[Alex50]

Interesting article

www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jun/23/five-children-have-died-of-coronavirus-in-uk-study-reveals

I posted it for reassurance, but people see what they want to see.

It's sad, but it's definitely reassuring. Thank you for posting.

The daily death stats for England are here and include ages. There have indeed been 18 children who have died with Covid-19 but the report and article talk about children who have died of Covid-19.

www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/covid-19-daily-deaths/

I would love to know how they differentiate the died with and the died of as I think it's one of the reasons why the UK figures are so high?

@BunsyGirl

And the number of children in care has gone up by almost 50% over the course of lockdown...

Source?

@Alex50

Out of the five, one baby died of starved oxygen to the brain at birth but died 3 weeks later, a 5 year that had been very ill, in and out of hospital, a 12 year old Asian lad who’s bmi was 30. 9 month old baby that died from rare Covid syndrome, the last was I think a 13 year old girl, not sure of her health details

Are those details confirmed and publicly available,?

If they are whilst it's awful for all the individuals involved it surely gives quite a lot of reassurance to parents in general

5 children under 15 have died, it might be 6 now, 20 people under 20 have died.

www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/06/COVID-19-total-announced-deaths-23-June-2020.xlsx

And the number was in the article I posted.

@Pleasantville yes they are, just google it.

www.itv.com/news/2020-06-23/exclusive-50-rise-in-children-referred-to-care-during-coronavirus-pandemic/

www.theguardian.com/society/2020/jun/23/number-of-children-needing-foster-care-soars-during-pandemic-says-barnardos

Sadly yes the number has risen from

I don’t think it’s as clear cut as saying numbers have gone up. I think it’s more likely that many existing foster carers (and potential family and friend carers) are unwilling to take placements at the moment due to shielding, social distancing, having several children at home already, etc, and that’s why requests from councils have gone up to private providers like Barbados and Salutem. Councils can’t rely on their in house placements. There’ll no doubt be a number of children who will have come into care during lockdown, but equally there are (anecdotally) many families open to social care who are thriving without the constant scrutiny. So it may balance out in the end.

I'm not worried about my DDs, as they're both very healthy. DD2 (8) had what I believe to have been COVID-19 in early March, and I was ill at the same time. Her symptoms were high temperature, chest pain and headache, and she also couldn't cope with bright lights. It was intense, but only for 4 days. By contrast, I've still suffering from the symptoms over 3 months later. We both caught it in the same place, I think, at a large gymnastics holiday club, where we handed the kids over in a very stuffy and airless room. I suspect strongly that DD1 (11) has had it without symptoms.

So I know that there's no need to worry about my DDs, which is very reassuring. However, my DH has asthma, so I do worry about him catching it from them sometimes. But then, he didn't catch it from DD2. It may well be true that children don't spread the virus, though I think the jury is still out on that question.

"I would love to know how they differentiate the died with and the died of as I think it's one of the reasons why the UK figures are so high?"

MrsWombat No, most European countries count COVID deaths as any death with a positive test
However, some don't include care homes

e.g. Germany's 9k deaths includes care homes and all institutions.
Also includes anyone dying with a positive COVID test, even victims of accident or murder

The UK's figures don't look exaggerated, because the number of COVID deaths quoted is about 20,000 below the increase in total deaths over the historical average (called excess deaths)

We can see the comparison here between countries and also see the excess deaths for the 12 UK regions:

However, we can also see deaths are v low atm,
so imo time to retart schools and the economy

The deaths of adults are equally as tragic.

@YetAnotherSpartacus

The deaths of adults are equally as tragic.

Of course, but I'm not making decisions for any adults beyond myself. Of course there are many people caring for other adults, but there will only be a small proportion where those adults don't have the capacity to make their own informed decisions. Whereas anyone with children, certainly of primary school age but also beyond that, are habing to make decisions for several other people and will have to carry the burden of guilt if they make the wrong one. So no not more or less tragic, but I think the weight of responsibility adds to the weight of it iyswim

Of course, but I'm not making decisions for any adults beyond myself

I do get that, but I was referring to the OP who did not bring this element into it. Also, those making decisions on behalf of children can also affect adults as well (those who children, who may be infected, may pass the virus on to).

Why do people always come on here and say it doesn’t matter the age of people dying, all lives matter. Of course all lives matter but now restrictions are loosening, we all have to risk access what is safe for ourselves and our families. I can’t risk access for anyone else, they have to do that for themselves so it important to know who is and isn’t at risk

All I have done is put the information on here, what you decide to do with it is down to the individual.

Why do people always come on here and say it doesn’t matter the age of people dying, all lives matter. Of course all lives matter but now restrictions are loosening, we all have to risk access what is safe for ourselves and our families. I can’t risk access for anyone else, they have to do that for themselves so it important to know who is and isn’t at risk

Then assume that everyone is at risk, either of catching it or passing it on.

And as far as this is concerned all lives do matter.

@YetAnotherSpartacus

Of course, but I'm not making decisions for any adults beyond myself

I do get that, but I was referring to the OP who did not bring this element into it. Also, those making decisions on behalf of children can also affect adults as well (those who children, who may be infected, may pass the virus on to).

Well I'm not sure it's necessary for the op to have to qualify a paot about children with "and of course we all know every life is equal". You wouldn't write a post about cats having fleas and qualify it with "but dogs with fleas matter too" or "fish with flu are equally loved"

Re kids infecting others is part of the weighted burden. I know a friend whose parti refusal to send her child to scho is the potential guilt she'd feel if a teacher caught it and died and her child might be "culpable"

Breaking news on cnn this morning that a set of triplets born in the US have coronovirus:(

"Died with" means any death where a person has tested positive for Covid. Not necessarily the cause of death but could be a contributing factor. I remember someone saying to me that their uncle was terminally ill and only had a matter of days/weeks left to live. He caught Covid and died and this death would have been included in our daily figures. He would have died anyway though, possibly that same day. That's why I think our numbers are much higher. Do we know how many deaths have been people with no underlying issues? Ie. Cause of death was solely Covid?

How many of the children who have been very ill or died did not have an underlying health condition? That will give some context to the numbers. How many children have had the illness and not been very ill or died? The headline numbers alone are pretty meaningless tbh.

For anyone keen to be offended and wanting to believe I don't think deaths of people with underlying conditions matter, let me just assure you that is not the case.

And as a pp has said, how many children have been killed or otherwise seriously harmed during lockdown? Their lives matter too. Staying in lockdown to protect the medically vulnerable means continuing to fail the socially vulnerable, and I don't think it's fair to prioritise those at risk from c19 over those at risk from abusive parents.

@LolaLollypop I dont think its happening in huge numbers like some people believe but it is happening. My best friends sister in law tested positive during end of life care for cancer, did not show any symptoms but was obviously very ill anyway and her cause of death was covid.

@SleepingStandingUp haha that made me laugh!

@Alex50 I personally like it when I see your name because I know it will be something reassuring rather than a doomsday propechy

@stayathomer I had a baby 7 weeks ago and the midwives told me newborns rarely show symptoms. I am on a baby support group on facebook. Several women in the group have now tested positive (asymptomatic) during the routine testing during labour and newborn thankfully unaffected.. It is thought breast milk offers some protection

As much as it sad and upsetting that children/teenagers have died due to Corona virus, but we do need to be sensible discussion about how ALL children can have a full time education. We can not continue to have millions of children missing education and socialising with their friends and family forever.

We can not rely on a vaccine to be made, with the best will in the world one may be available soon, but going on other Corona viruses it be years, if ever. How long do we wait and see.

For those who don't want to go back to work, and children back to school because you don't feel safe, what do you want to happen. The country can not afford to keep paying out furlough indefinitely, companies need to be able to have staff in and working.

@YetAnotherSpartacus I have to make choices everyday for my family. My daughter went shopping with a friend the other day, whether she can go or not is down to me, she has gone to a friends garden with a couple of friends this afternoon. I think her risk is low as a very healthy 14 year old girl. I can’t self assess for someone else’s child or family who’s situation is very different to mine. As long as she follows government guidelines that is all I can do.