For many families, Illinois’ statewide mask mandate for schools was an overreach by authorities. Now evidence continues to mount that the one-size-fits-all policy was an overreaction to the Delta variant, as well. For sure Delta has been more contagious – cases among Illinois children hit their 2nd-highest peak in early September. But the data also shows that serious illness or death hasn’t increased for Illinois kids under the age of 20. Hospitalizations and deaths have remained within the same range they’ve been in since before Delta. And case-survival rates for kids – 99.99 percent – have also remained unchanged. That hasn’t gone unnoticed by both experts and the media. A recent Reuters article titled Delta does not appear to make children sicker; Secondary immune response stronger after infection than after shot, for example, says that new research from the UK found that “the Delta variant of the coronavirus does not appear to cause more severe disease in children than earlier forms of the virus.” Dr. Sean O’Leary, Vice Chair of the American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Infectious Diseases, recently said the same thing. So does the most recent CDC study on youth hospitalizations nationwide: “Among all hospitalized children and adolescents with COVID-19, the proportions with indicators of severe disease…after the Delta variant became predominant (June 20–July 31, 2021) were similar to those earlier in the pandemic (March 1, 2020–June 19, 2021).” In Illinois, the initial concern regarding Delta was that youth hospitalization and death numbers would rise above their previous pandemic highs – like what occurred in Florida. But Illinois never experienced a Florida-like spike, and now cases and hospitalizations are declining, just as they are across most of the nation. That makes the continued statewide school mask mandate all the more unnecessary. U.S. News and World Report recently reported that 33 states in the nation don’t have a universal mask mandate for schools. Mask-wearing for Illinois students should be a local decision based on school and community data. Here’s the latest data regarding Illinois children and COVID: 1. The number of Illinois youth hospitalized due to COVID has remained within a tight range throughout the entire pandemic, even during the rise of Delta. While it’s true that hospital admissions of children with COVID rose significantly over the last several months, the actual number of kids staying in hospitals with either confirmed or suspected COVID topped out at 70 in September, far below the pandemic peak of 113 kids in October 2020. Today, child hospitalizations are below the pandemic’s average. That’s according to data from the CDC. |
 |
| 2. Illinois’ Delta wave has not resulted in a higher rate of child fatalities.Youth COVID deaths are still in the same pattern they’ve been in throughout the pandemic, remaining consistently in the 0 to 3 range per month. |
 |
| Surprisingly, the data shows it’s still Illinoisans over 60 that continue to be the most at risk from the virus. The elderly have made up 75 percent of all COVID deaths since July 1, 2021. |
 |
| 3. Known-case survival rates for youth have remained flat since July 1, 2021.Before the Delta variant appeared, Illinois had lost 20 kids under the age of 20 to COVID, according to IDPH data. The survival rate for that age group, based on the 227,391 known-cases in Illinois, was 99.991 percent through July 2021. Even after the variant appeared and cases climbed, the survivability rate for youth has remained the same, at 99.990 percent. Other fatalities kill far more children than COVIDIt’s important to put Illinois’ COVID numbers in perspective. A total of 18 Illinois children aged 17 and under have died of the virus over the last 18 months, according to the CDC. While the death of every child is tragic, compare the 18 deaths to those from simple accidents in Illinois. Parents let their kids ride bikes, go to the lake or drive cars, not realizing that those activities can result in far more deaths than COVID has. In 2017, the latest full year of IDPH data for comparison, 143 Illinois kids died from accidents alone. Suicide, too, took more lives than COVID. In 2017, certainly a less stressful period than 2020-2021, 73 kids died from suicide. In all, 606 Illinois youth aged 1 to 17 died in 2017. The 18 COVID deaths – over a year and a half – equal just 3 percent of that total. |
 |
| It’s painful to be so analytical when discussing child deaths, but it’s not wrong to acknowledge COVID has largely spared Illinois’ youth. Nor is it wrong to acknowledge the other side of the ledger: that Illinois’ two million children need normalcy in school to develop and thrive. And that’s all the more reason to make the issue of student masking a local decision. |
Ted Dabrowski President, Wirepoints |
