Two young children and a teenager have now died in New York state from a possible complication from the coronavirus involving swollen blood vessels and heart problems, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Saturday. At least 73 children in New York have been diagnosed with symptoms similar to Kawasaki disease — a rare inflammatory condition in children — and toxic shock syndrome. Most of them are toddlers and elementary-age children. Cuomo announced two more deaths a day after discussing the death of a 5-year-old boy Thursday at a New York City hospital. A 7-year old in Westchester County and a teenager in Suffolk County on Long Island also died. There is no proof that the virus causes the mysterious syndrome. Cuomo said children had tested positive for COVID-19 or the antibodies but did not show the common symptoms of the virus when they were hospitalized. “This is the last thing that we need at this time, with all that is going on, with all the anxiety we have, now for parents to have to worry about whether or not their youngster was infected,” Cuomo said at his daily briefing. New York is helping develop national criteria for identifying and responding to the syndrome at the request of the Centers for Disease Control, Cuomo said. Children elsewhere in the U.S. have also been hospitalized with the condition, which was also seen in Europe. Doctors still believe that most children with COVID-19 develop only mild illness. At least 3,000 U.S. children are diagnosed with Kawasaki disease each year. It is most common in children younger than 6 and in boys. Symptoms include prolonged fever, severe abdominal pain and trouble breathing. Other coronavirus developments in New York. STAY-AT-HOME Cuomo did not extend New York’s stay-at-home restrictions to June 7 — despite a claim by a spokesman that he did, according to a top aide to the governor. Melissa DeRosa, secretary to the governor, released a prepared statement Saturday evening saying the May 15 expiration date for the restrictions still stands “until further notice.” Cuomo spokesman Richard Azzopardi had said earlier in the day that Cuomo in an executive order extended the stay-at-home restrictions into early June, though regions of the state would be able to phase in reopenings sooner if they meet a series of benchmarks. He later said he misinterpreted the order, which extended the expiration date of other emergency actions. Cuomo plans to allow regions to gradually begin restarting economic activity after May 15 if they demonstrate progress in taming and tracking the outbreak. DeRosa said new guidance will be issued for regions of the state at that time based on those metrics. Some upstate areas hope to begin reopening later this month, though none of the state’s 10 regions had met all seven required benchmarks earlier this week. Regions wishing to phase in economic activity must show that COVID-19-related deaths and hospitalizations are trending down and that there are enough hospital beds to meet a surge. Counties will have to increase testing and tracing and businesses will need to adapt to protect workers. Businesses will reopen in four phases, starting with construction, manufacturing and retail with curb-side pickup. THE NUMBERS New York reported 226 new deaths, up by 10 from the previous day but in line with daily tolls from the rest […]
The post LATEST NY UPDATES: 3 NY Youths Die From Syndrome Possibly Linked To COVID-19 appeared first on The Yeshiva World.