CLEVELAND — There have been nearly 160,000 total COVID-19 cases in Ohio children 19 and under since the beginning of the pandemic, accounting for 13.9% of all cases, but only 1,687 of the state’s 62,881 COVID-19 hospitalizations were among children, and just seven people under 20 were among the 20,580 COVID-19-associated deaths.
Compared to the rest of the country, Ohio has the 8th most child COVID-19 cases and is one of 17 states that has reported over 100,000 cases in children, according to a new report from the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children’s Hospital Association.
However, the percent of total cases that were in children in the state is slightly below the nationwide percent of 14.4%, the report states.
The report includes data from 49 states, New York City, Washington DC, Puerto Rico and Guam, and notes that states define “child” differently. While most states, including Ohio, defined child as anyone age 0 to 19 in the data provided to the AAP and CHA, multiple states define child as someone 17 and under, while Utah and Florida’s reported age range for children is 0 to 14.
With a child population of 2.8 million, Ohio’s COVID-19 case rate per 100,000 children is 5,539.2, below the overall U.S. rate of 5,864 and in the bottom 20 states for the metric. Twelve states reported more than 8,000 cases per 100,000, with Rhode Island, Tennessee and North Dakota at the top of the list.
Just 1.1% of the child COVID cases in Ohio resulted in hospitalization, and .004% resulted in the child’s death, according to the report.
View the full national report on COVID-19 in children here.
Cases in children under 18 have been on the upswing in Ohio since June after falling from their highest total count in December 2020, according to data from the Ohio Department of Health. There were 1,066 cases in June, which was 14.5% of total cases. The 3,327 cases in July accounted for 16.1% of the total cases. In August, Ohio has already surpassed July’s total child cases with 4,191 cases so far, accounting for 15.1% of total cases.
As of August 15, 4.7% of total cases were in children aged 14 to 17, 2.1% in kids 11-13, 4.4% in those aged 5 to 10, and 2.9% in those 4 and under.
Cuyahoga and Hamilton counties have reported the most cases in children under 18, each with over 10,000 cases to date.
View more data on COVID-19 and children in Ohio on the ODH data dashboard here.
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