NYC Kids Of Color May Be More Vulnerable To COVID-Linked Illness

NEW YORK CITY — New York children of color may be more vulnerable to the toxic shock-like syndrome linked to new coronavirus, according to demographic data released by City Hall Friday.

Of the 110 New York City kids diagnosed with pediatric multi-system inflammatory syndrome as of Friday, 38 percent are African American or Hispanic, Mayor Bill de Blasio said.

White children represent 9 percent of those cases and the race of 38 percent of the kids remains unknown.

"The numbers continue to concern us," said de Blasio. "It's tracking the same disparities we've seen throughout this crisis."

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The data, which de Blasio warned is both preliminary and incomplete, also show younger children could be more vulnerable.

Children under the age of 4 make up 35 percent of the PMIS cases and kids between 5 and 9 represent 25 percent of cases, data show.

The Bronx has seen the most cases with 37 percent of cases, followed by Queens with 33 percent, Brooklyn with 20 percent, Manhattan with 7 percent and Staten Island with 3 percent, data show.

As of Friday, New York City has lost one child to the syndrome, a 5-year-old boy.

Read the City's PMIS fact sheet here.

More than half of the young PMIS patients, 57 percent precisely, are boys and 55 percent tested positive for COVID-19 antibodies.

New York City had 186,293 COVID-19 cases as of Thursday afternoon with 49,516 hospitalized and an estimated 20,406 deaths with 15,249 confirmed and 5,057 likely, city data show.

As Gov. Andrew Cuomo extended the state's stay-at-home order until May 28, de Blasio said the city's daily trackers once again failed to show steady progress.

Suspected COVID-19 hospitalizations rose from 59 on May 12 to 78 on May 13, the percentage of people testing positive rose from 11 percent on May 12 to 12 percent on May 13, but the number of ICU patients dropped from 517 to 506, city data show.

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