Arizona’s Republican candidate for superintendent of public instruction says kids are resistant to COVID-19. More than 14 million children in the United States have contracted the disease.
nstruction debate. Horne attacked Kathy Hoffman, the current superintendent who is running for re-election, for being too ready to close schools during the pandemic.Sept. 14 debate on Arizona PBS.
Debate moderator Ted Simons pointed out that children can still become infected with the virus and spread it to their families. We asked Horne to clarify what he meant when he said children are resistant to COVID-19. He said it was a matter of degree, and pointed to an Arizona Republic"12 deaths in a year to minors from COVID, versus tens of thousands for older people." Horne said.Throughout the pandemic, the death rate for children 17 and younger has been much lower than that of older adults. According to the, in the winter of 2021, the pandemic’s peak, the death rate for children 5 to 11 was 0.
But infections, that is, cases, followed a different path. While generally lower for the young than for the old, in January 2022, the case rate among children 5 to 11 was 1,554 per 100,000. By contrast, the rate for people older than 75 was about half that — 697 per 100,000.