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CDC study: COVID-19 deaths higher among minority children

FILE - In this Wednesday, March 11, 2020, file photo, a technician prepares COVID-19 coronavirus patient samples for testing at a laboratory. (AP Photo/John Minchillo) (John Minchillo, Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – A new federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study shows that Hispanic, Black and American Indian/Alaskan Native children accounted for 78% of COVID-19 pediatric deaths.

Also, 75% of the children who died had at least one underlying medical condition.

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The report is based on information that 47 health jurisdictions, including the Florida Department of Health, submitted to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The analysis reviewed 121 deaths, with 12% of the cases meeting the definition of MIS-C, or multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children.

Ten percent of the pediatric deaths were in infants under age 1. Twenty percent were in children ages 1 to 9.

Among the 121 young people who died, 63% were male, 45% were Hispanic, 29% were Black, and 4% were American Indian or Alaskan native.

The study also showed that 39 deaths occurred outside of hospital inpatient settings, occurring at home or in hospital emergency departments.