A U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report released Friday says the coronavirus can cause “severe illness” in children and adolescents.

From late June to mid-August, when there was an “increased circulation” of the highly contagious delta variant of the coronavirus, weekly COVID-associated hospitalization rates for children and adolescents rose nearly fivefold. Hospitalization rates, however, were “10 times higher among unvaccinated than among fully vaccinated adolescents,” the study said.

India’s health ministry said Saturday morning that 42,618 new COVID cases were reported in the previous 24-hour period and 330 deaths.

India is second only to the United States in COVID tolls. India has almost 33 million COVID-19 infections and 440,225 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center. The U.S., Johns Hopkins says, has nearly 40 million infections and close to 650,000 deaths. Public health officials have warned, however, that India’s tolls are likely undercounted.

The COVID-related death of a woman in her 90s is the first COVID-related death in New Zealand in more than 200 days.

In addition to COVID, doctors say the women had several underlying health problems.

Fighter Oscar de la Hoya has been hospitalized with COVID-19, forcing him to drop out of a comeback fight scheduled for next month.

Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center said early Saturday that it had recorded nearly 219.8 million global COVID infections and 4.5 million deaths. The center said 5.4 billion vaccines have been administered.

Source: Voice of America