South African experts have expressed concern about the rising number of COVID-19 infections among young children. We have always seen children not being heavily affected by the Covid epidemic in the past and not having many admissions to hospitals. In the third wave, we saw more admissions in children under five and in teenagers who were 15 to 19.

“Now, at the start of this fourth wave, we see quite a sharp increase across all age groups, but particularly in the under-fives,” said Dr Waasila Jassat of the National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD) at a media briefing by the Health Ministry on Friday.

It is still very early on in the wave. At this stage, it has just started in the younger age groups and we will know more (by) monitoring this age group in the coming weeks. “We do just need to highlight the importance of surge preparedness to also include paediatric beds and staff,” Groome said.