Seattle children’s hospital confirms first patient death from COVID-19

A children’s hospital in Seattle reported on Tuesday that it saw its first patient die from COVID-19.

“We are saddened to confirm that the first patient death from COVID-19 at Seattle Children’s occurred last week, despite the extraordinary efforts of the care team. This hits all of us close to home, and the patient and family are in the thoughts and hearts of the Seattle Children’s community,” John McGuire, Chief of the Division of Pediatric Critical Care Medicine at Seattle Children’s Hospital, said in a statement on Tuesday.

Additional information about the patient was not provided by McGuire, who cited privacy reasons.

The Seattle Times noted that, compared to other states in the United States, pediatric COVID-19 cases are lower in Washington. However, the state has experienced its own surge of coronavirus infections in the state. 

According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the state saw approximately 3,300 new cases on Tuesday. The day before, the state reportedly roughly 2,900 new cases. In comparison, new daily cases were generally in the hundreds in June.  

Washington has a generally high vaccination rate, with 79 percent of individuals aged 12 years and older haven gotten at least one shot of the COVID-19 vaccine, according to CDC data. Roughly 70 percent of that population is fully vaccinated. 

However, the COVID-19 infections are particularly tricky for children given that those under the age of 12 years old have not been approved yet for the COVID-19 vaccine.

At least 90,000 children in schools have had to quarantine during this school year alone due to exposure of COVID-19 or a possible infection. At least four school districts in Texas alone have had to close temporarily to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

–Updated at 3:43 p.m.