COVID-19 cases in kids are increasing in Wisconsin
MILWAUKEE - As more and more Wisconsinites get vaccinated each day, coronavirus cases are still on the rise. There's a particular age group health experts are noticing this in.
"Normally, we didn’t see as much disease in children as we did in adults," said Gregory Demuri with UW Health. "This has swung quite a bit over the last several weeks or so."
COVID-19 cases in kids are increasing in Wisconsin, and it's a trend health experts hope to curb quickly.
"The increase in transmission in children is due to a lapse in our mitigation measures and our control measures and that includes things like masking, distancing and good hand hygiene," said Demuri.
As kids return to school, doctors say in-person learning is fairly safe, with little to no transmission. It's what kids do outside the classroom that's cause for concern -- especially when it comes to sports and extracurricular activities.
"It’s very important that coaches and athletic directors send a very strong message to children that if they’re going to play their sport, they need to still wear their mask," said Demuri. "They need to distance as much as they can."
Health experts believe the new variants are also to blame, and the risk of kids catching the virus shouldn't be taken lightly. The key is getting kids 16 and up vaccinated in the meantime and continuing to follow COVID-19 safety measures.
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"It’s really important that we double down on these measures right now," said Demuri. "We’re really almost to the finish line here, and it’s not time to let up."
Health experts expect a vaccine for kids 12 and up to come out in the next few months. They recommend keeping activities outdoors to help stop the spread of the virus.
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