Rare Coronavirus Illness in Kids Spreading in NYC, At Least 52 Sick

New York - At least 52 children have taken ill due to a rare offshoot of the coronavirus in New York City, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced on Tuesday, adding a frightening new dimension to the virus that has ground the city to a halt these past two months but has largely not affected young people.

The inflammatory illness has been compared to the Kawasaki disease, formally known as pediatric multi-system inflammatory syndrome, has already led to the death of one 5-year-old boy in the city. In addition, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said that a 7-year old boy in Westchester County and an 18-year-old girl in Suffolk County also died.

Aside for the 52 cases, there are another ten cases pending tests. An additional 22 children with the illness has the antibodies to protect against the virus.

“It’s sobering, it’s bluntly frightening and I want to say to parents out there ... it sounds scary,” de Blasio said at his daily coronavirus press conference. “It’s something we did not see essentially throughout March and April, this was not something that the health care community saw on their radar and then in the last week or two, suddenly we’re seeing something that’s very troubling. And we’re combining the efforts of health care professionals all over New York City to understand what it is and how to deal with it.”

Parents should seek immediate medical care if a child has prolonged fever of more than five days, an infant has difficulty feeding, there is severe abdominal pain, diarrhea or vomiting, a change in skin color — the skin becomes pale, patchy or blue, there is trouble breathing or is breathing very quickly, racing heart or chest pain, a decreased amount of frequency in urine or lethargy, irritability or confusion.

New York state overall has seen approximately 100 cases and was requested by the CDC to develop testing for the disease.