Seattle Children’s announces first patient death from COVID-19

SEATTLE — Seattle Children’s Hospital confirmed Tuesday its first patient death from COVID-19.

Dr. John McGuire who works in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit at Seattle Children’s said in a statement to KIRO 7 the death occurred last week.

“This hits all of us close to home, and the patient and family are in the thoughts and hearts of the Seattle Children’s community,” McGuire said.

The hospital did not share details on the age of the child for privacy reasons.

Earlier this month, McGuire said they are treating more children with severe cases of COVID-19. He’s seen the uptick.

“The people we are seeing in the hospital are typically people who are unvaccinated, either teens who are not vaccinated or younger people who are not eligible to be vaccinated,” said McGuire. “We are clearly in a fifth wave here in Washington. And commensurate with that, we are seeing an increase in the number of kids needing hospitalization and needing intensive care.”

He said to protect young children who can’t get vaccinated, other family members must get vaccinated.

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