“It is scary, especially for kids who don’t fully understand what’s going on. They’re air hungry, struggling for breath and it’s just scary,” said Dr. Kelechi Iheagwara, medical director of the pediatric intensive care unit at the Our Lady of the Lake Children’s Hospital in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. “You have the illness, the fear, they can’t breathe, they’re isolated — that’s hard for anyone to understand, but can you imagine what it’s like for a kid?”

Her hospital has treated Covid in children ranging in ages from 3-week-olds to 17-year-olds in recent weeks. Iheagawara said for the past month, her unit has had to treat 25 or 26 patients in a space designed for 20. Things are continuing to get worse…

Children’s hospitals in areas seeing a surge in Covid cases are experiencing the same pattern: More children are coming in with Covid symptoms just ahead of the start of the school year. Bed shortages and overworked doctors and nurses in children’s hospitals are becoming commonplace.