COVID-19 still spreading among children, Saskatchewan government data shows

A family physician in Saskatoon says he is seeing a lot more COVID-19 in young children and a lot more long COVID illnesses in children.

Saskatchewan government data shows children from the ages of one to four visit emergency rooms with COVID-19-like symptoms nearly two and a half times more than the provincial average.

And the rate for young children is rising.

According to the latest COVID-19 data update, 72.6 per every 1,000 children between the ages of one and four years visit ERs with COVID-19 symptoms compared to just 27.1 for the entire population, as of March 12.

Children ages five to 11 visit at a rate of 30.7 per every 1,000 people.

And while the rate for the entire population has been decreasing since the province began issuing provincial reports at the start of February, the rate has been increasing for young children over the last three weeks, from 64.9 on Feb. 26.

Dr. Adam Ogieglo, a family physician in Saskatoon, told Global News he’s consistently seen more children with COVID-19 symptoms in his practice since the provincial government lifted the mask mandate at the start of March.

“So, kids under five (have) lots of crupe-like presentations, or kids are having a little bit of trouble breathing, needing a bit of medicine to help them get through that,” he said.

Normally — at least, before the pandemic — he said he’d be seeing a decline in cold and flu issues this time of year.