California officials announced that the first child under the age of 18 in the United States to die was a 17-year-old boy who lived north of Los Angeles in Lancaster, California. Gov. Gavin Newsom responded to the boy’s death by exhorting, “”We had the tragic life of a teenager, which underscores how the virus can impact anybody. We’re doing the investigation to see how it occurred … I can’t impress upon the young people enough the seriousness of the moment … Let us not have to announce again that a teenager lost their lives because we didn’t take this moment seriously,” as The San Francisco Chronicle reported.
Barbara Ferrer, director of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, echoed of the death and two others in the county, “Each loss we experience in L.A. County is tragic, and we are sending our heartfelt condolences to the families and loved ones who’ve had to endure this tragedy. Covid-19 does not discriminate by age, race or income level.”
Now Los Angeles County Department of Public Health officials are asserting that they may not be sure that coronavirus was the cause of the boy’s death, saying, ““Though early tests indicated a positive result for COVID-19, the case is complex and there may be an alternate explanation for this fatality,” as The New York Times reported. Officials announced that his death would be investigated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Lancaster Mayor R. Rex Parris said the boy was initially treated at a hospital that did not test him for the coronavirus, fuming, “How do you take a kid in for having respiratory problems and you don’t test him? I am so livid.”He added, “I’m really upset right now. I thought this was a disease that affected people my age, Now I realize our kids are at risk — that’s something totally different. We are enforcing the law in Lancaster. I will not lose another child.”
The boy reputedly died from septic shock, which can result from an infection that can cause severely low blood pressure and organ failure. The boy recently started having respiratory problems.
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said, “We are anywhere from about 6 to 12 days behind what we are seeing in New York City … where more than one American is dying each hour … Everybody is hopeful and some are putting out that hope of us being back in churches by Easter or synagogues by Passover, of restarting the economy in a couple of weeks,” as The Daily Mail reported. He added, “We will not be back to that normal in that short period of time. I said to be prepared for a couple months like this.”
The 1,000-bed Navy hospital ship Mercy is traveling from San Diego to Los Angeles; it intends to treat non-coronavirus patients to relieve the burden on hospitals. The Daily Mail noted, “California is expanding production efforts to manufacture 1 billion globes, 500 million N-95 masks and 200 million shields. On Monday, the California National Guard said it would be deployed across the state for humanitarian purposes to distribute food and medical supplies and help with food banks and aid officials on the Grand Princess cruise ship.”