SALEM, Oregon - New COVID-19 case counts have plummeted in Oregon, but the state is experiencing a change in who is testing positive. Since January, the share of new cases in Oregonians aged 10 to 19 has grown by roughly 50% while the proportion of those aged 20 to 50 has shrunk, according to an analysis by The Lund Report.

This shift appears to be part of a national trend. Nationwide weekly data collected by the American Academy of Pediatrics show a similar rise in the percentage of new cases in the young. Hospital admission data exhibit the same pattern: The fraction of patients admitted to a hospital for COVID who are under 19 has nearly doubled since January.

Still, adults account for the vast majority of hospitalizations. Reports by 48 states and Washington D.C. to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services show there were more than 2.3 million suspected or confirmed COVID hospital admissions in adults since last Nov. 1 through last Saturday. That compares with 81,300 hospitalizations in children.

Unlike elderly adults, which face the highest risk of death and severe disease from COVID, the vast majority of children experience only mild symptoms, most commonly cough, fever, headache and runny nose. Also, just two Oregonians younger than 20 have died. In contrast, about 470 between 50 to 70 years old have died, and there have been just over 1,780 fatalities among those aged 70 and over... Read full story