[Asia Economy Reporter Minji Lee] The first death case among children under 10 years old confirmed with COVID-19 in South Korea has been reported.
On the 30th, Ko Jaeyoung, spokesperson for the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA), stated at the Central Disease Control Headquarters (CDCH) briefing, "On the 28th, a child under 10 years old visited the emergency room and subsequently died, with the COVID-19 diagnosis confirmed posthumously," adding, "The deceased child had underlying health conditions and had shown symptoms such as fever and sore throat since the 20th."
Park Youngjun, head of the CDCH epidemiological investigation team, said, "The child arrived at the emergency room in a poor condition, not just with mild symptoms, and received emergency treatment first," and added, "The positive COVID-19 test result was confirmed after the child’s death." Authorities are currently investigating the infection route of the deceased child and will examine medical records to determine the cause of death.
Earlier, on the 22nd, a pregnant woman at 25 weeks gestation who was diagnosed with COVID-19 gave birth prematurely, resulting in a stillbirth. The deceased fetus tested positive for COVID-19. However, authorities excluded this case from confirmed and death statistics, considering that the fetus had not yet been registered as a birth.
Recently, as confirmed cases have increased across all age groups, the number of critically ill children and adolescents under 19 receiving treatments such as ventilators or extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) has also risen. As of this date, among the 661 critically ill patients hospitalized, 556 are aged 60 or older, the majority; 60 are in their 50s, 25 in their 40s, 15 in their 30s, and 1 in their 20s. There are 3 patients in their teens and 1 patient under 10 years old.
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