Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Saturday that the state is helping develop the standards for identifying and responding to a disease that appears to be related to COVID-19.
He said that three young New Yorkers who were identified as Covid-19 patients have died in recent days of an illness that seems similar to Kawasaki disease. One of the deaths was reported in Suffolk County; another in New York City and a third in Westchester County. There was no further information available on their identity.
The State Department of Health is also partnering with the NY Genome Center and Rockefeller University to conduct a genome and RNA sequencing study to better understand COVID-related illnesses in children and the possible genetic basis of this syndrome.
“We now have a new issue that has come up in the fight against COVID-19 that is truly disturbing and it impacts our youngest New Yorkers,” Cuomo said. “The Department of Health is currently studying 73 cases of children experiencing inflammation of the blood vessels as a complication of COVID-19, and three young New Yorkers have already lost their lives as a result of this illness. The CDC has asked New York to develop a national criteria for this illness, and the state is also working with the NY Genome Center and Rockefeller University to conduct a study to help us better understand it. This is a frightening new development, but rest assured we are doing everything we can to learn more and keep parents informed.”
New Yorkers should seek immediate care if a child has:
- Prolonged fever (more than five days)
- Difficulty feeding (infants) or is too sick to drink fluids
- Severe abdominal pain, diarrhea or vomiting
- Change in skin color – becoming pale, patchy and/or blue
- Trouble breathing or is breathing very quickly
- Racing heart or chest pain
- Decreased amount of frequency in urine
- Lethargy, irritability or confusion