MDH: State Running Out of Beds to Treat Kids with COVID

(KNSI) – Minnesota Health Officials says the latest surge is pushing Minnesota’s medical staff to the brink and hitting kids harder than at any time during the pandemic.

Minnesota Department of Health Commissioner Jan Malcolm says the state set saw a new milestone with more than 3,000 children under age 12 testing positive for COVID last week. Malcolm says Minnesota is running out of space to treat children.

“The current crisis is really quite extraordinary for pediatric capacity. The latest data shows that there are no pediatric hospital beds available in the Central Minnesota region. Only two in the southeast, one each in the northwest and south-central regions, and only seven available beds in the metro region.

She says the latest data from the state showed 514 new cases in K-12 schools and 158 schools have five or more cases. Data shows 996 schools reporting at least one case. Malcolm says the biggest problem isn’t finding a physical bed or ventilator for sick kids. It’s making sure there’s staff to treat them.

“Now this is really an issue of health care worker capacity. And there are actually fewer health care workers on the job today than there were last year due to the extreme stress and burnout that they have faced over 18 months now.”

President and Chief Executive Officer Children’s Minnesota Doctor Marc Gorelick says he sees the same things at his hospital.

“While it is true that COVID-19 primarily affects adults, children are by no means spared. And we at Children’s Minnesota are experiencing many of the same issues of volatile and surging volumes, staffing shortages and provider stress as our adult system counterparts.”

He says it’s up to people in the communities with the highest infection to stop the spread of the pandemic.

“So we need everyone to do what we know keeps everyone safe. If you are eligible, get vaccinated, everyone wears a mask when it’s recommended. I’m asking Minnesotans to do what they can to help keep the kids in our community healthy and safe.”

Since the pandemic started, there have been 88,173 lab-confirmed cases in children under the age of 14. The department of health says three children under the age of 14 have died from the Coronavirus.

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