FORTY-ONE children have died of Covid-19 this year as of August 30 compared to just six virus deaths last year involving the under-18 category, the Health Ministry said.

The 41 deaths make up 0.01% out of the 310,074 cases involving children this year, which has seen a surge in Covid-19 infections overall compared to last year.

The six deaths of children last year were 0.05% out of 12,620 infections involving those under 18 in 2020.

The 41 deaths this year also account for 0.26% of the total 15,911 Covid-19 deaths from January 1 to August 30. 

For all of 2020, there were a total of 471 deaths. The national caseload on December 31, 2020, was 113,010, with 2,525 new infections recorded on that day.

Comparatively, the national caseload on August 30 this year was 1.73 million, as daily cases hovered at around 20,000. 

The ministry, in figures released to its media WhatsApp group, said the highest number of fatalities for the under-18 age group this year were aged between 13 and 17, with 16 deaths.

Another 15 deaths were recorded among children aged four years and below, while there were nine deaths for the 7-12-year-old group.

There was one death in the 5-7 age group.

The 310,074 cases involving children under-18 this year until August 30 is about 19% of the overall 1,612,347 infections for the same period since the beginning of the year.

Children in the 7-12 years bracket had the most infections, at 106,823, followed by ages 13-17 (89,087 cases), 0-4 years (81,168 cases) and 5-6 years (32,996 cases)

The ministry did not give further details as to whether the children who died had other underlying health issues. – September 2, 2021.