NYS Dept. of Health Will Host Webinar on Inflammatory Disease in Children Related to COVID-19

Governor Andrew Cuomo announced today that the State Department of Health will host a statewide webinar tomorrow, May 14, for all health-care providers to discuss the symptoms, testing and care of reported inflammatory disease in children related to COVID-19.

There have been over 100 reported cases in the state where children have experienced symptoms possibly related to COVID-19, and it has taken the lives of three young New Yorkers: a 5-year old in New York City, a 7-year old in Westchester County and a teenager in Suffolk County.

“We must stay alert with this virus because we’re still learning, and what we thought we knew doesn’t always turn out to be true,” Governor Cuomo said. “When we first started with this virus, we were told children are not affected, which was a great sigh of relief. But now we’re finding out that may not be 100 percent accurate because we’re seeing cases where children who may have been infected with the COVID virus show symptoms of an inflammatory disease like the Kawasaki disease or toxic shock-like syndrome. New York State has been aggressively investigating these new cases and is leading the efforts on this nationwide, and the more we know the more we know, the more we’ll communicate.”

New Yorkers should seek immediate care if a child has prolonged fever (more than five days), severe abdominal pain, diarrhea or vomiting, bloodshot eyes or a skin rash.

Other symptoms may include pale, patchy and/or blue skin color, difficulty feeding (infants) or ingesting fluids, breathing or cardiac irregularities, or lethargy, irritability or confusion.

Governor Cuomo directed hospitals statewide to prioritize COVID-19 testing for children displaying symptoms similar to an atypical Kawasaki disease and toxic shock-like syndrome.

For more information, visit www.health.ny.gov.