More COVID cases being reported in Kentucky children

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WKYT) - Coronavirus cases continue to increase across the commonwealth, including in our children.

Governor Andy Beshear’s office reported 126 cases in children five or younger just last week.

Doctor Katrina Hood, with Lexington’s Pediatric and Adolescent Associates, tells us when she first started testing kids for COVID-19 back in May, there were no cases for the first few weeks.

But now, she says with increased exposure to our children, those numbers are going up.

Dr. Hood says symptoms in children are not always typical to what we’ve seen with COVID-19. She says some have sore throats, others stomach issues like vomiting and diarrhea.

Many children show symptoms so mild they are confused with allergies.

As of now, Dr. Hood has not seen any serious cases in children. She says at the start of the pandemic, children were mostly hunkered down inside. As we continue to open up and send out kids to daycares and camps, we will learn more about how this novel virus affects younger generations.

“Haven’t had the significant exposure that many of the older ones of as we’ve gone back to work, or we’ve gone out to supper, or have gone to bars as we’ve seen these kinds of things where we may be increasing exposure, for kinds, we are just going to wait and see,” Dr. Hood said. “I think what schools and sports and those sorts of things hold for us.”

Dr. Hood says we should continue to follow CDC guidelines we’ve become accustomed to including wearing masks, washing your hands and socially distancing. She says this could help curb the spread in people of all ages as we continue to open up.

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