Ilocos Norte kids told to stay at home as COVID-19 surge hits young people

LAOAG CITY—Health authorities in Ilocos Norte province have appealed to parents and guardians to be more vigilant and keep their children at home as many young residents are getting sick with COVID-19.

At a press briefing on Tuesday (April 20), Gov. Matthew Marcos Manotoc said he has been seeing a lot of children gathered together in public areas without wearing masks or observing physical distancing, two of the most basic protocols in preventing transmission of SARS Cov2, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19.

Being frequently outside makes younger children more vulnerable to two variants of SARS Cov2, the UK and South African mutations, which are more contagious and had been found in the province recently, the governor said.

Of the 1,479 total COVID-19 cases recorded so far, around 20.83 percent involved children between 0-14 and 15-24 years old.

In the 0-14 age bracket, at least 135 had been infected while 173 were sick with COVID-19 in the 15-24 age bracket, according to Dr. Rheuel Bobis, COVID-19 focal person of the Department of Health in the Ilocos region.

Manotoc said he was alarmed when one of the latest COVID-19 fatalities in the province turned out to be a 24-year-old man from the city who died on April 14 due to complications.

The governor said the province’s youth should also consider other members of their families as young people were among the most frequent carriers of the virus and infection had a higher chance of setting in if the young spent so much time outside on nonessential activities.

“I hope that our kids realize that they, too, are not invincible to COVID-19,” said Manotoc.

On April 16, Dr. Noreen Mayubay, a pediatric infectious disease specialist, made a similar warning to parents.

Mayubay said there were more young children being infected with SARS Cov2 and had to be brought to hospitals.

TSB