Friday November 27, 2020
As students return to college campuses, the surrounding communities are seeing an increase in coronavirus infections. Michael Conroy/AP
Minneapolis (HOL) - Young people in their 20's continue to make up the largest group of people with confirmed COVID-19 cases in Minnesota. The Department of Health says that 57,000 people, including 31,000 between 20-24, have been infected since the onset of the pandemic.
The number of infected high school students has also risen with nearly 23,000 total cases found in teenagers aged 15-19.
Severe COVID-19 symptoms typically evade the younger population. Still, many worry that they may be carrying the virus and passing it on to their parents or grandparents, who are specifically more vulnerable.
There have been more than 1 million children who have been diagnosed with COVID-19 nationwide. Dr Sally Goza, president of the American Academy of Pediatrics, said that America hasn't experienced anything like this since polio.
"As a paediatrician who has practised medicine for over three decades, I find this number staggering and tragic," Dr Sally Goza said in a statement. "We hadn't seen a virus flash through our communities in this way since before we had vaccines for measles and polio."
Doctors are anxious about the Midwest, with states like Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin each have reported more than 25,000 cases.