SAN ANTONIO – A group of medical experts from hospitals across our region are part of a pediatric committee at Southwest Texas Regional Advisory Council or STRAC.
The co-chair of the committee, Dr. Lillian Liao, said they are creating a pediatric crisis response guideline that will be activated in the region in the event that we have a surge in pediatric COVID-19 cases or any other illness that could overwhelm the health care system.
“We’re trying to get responses from the various hospital systems within San Antonio to create this guideline and what this is, is a framework that assists hospitals in training when there is limited resources and that limited resource will be bed capacity, ventalitator capacity, if we ever get to that point for children,” said Dr. Lillian Liao, Co-chair of Pediatric Committee at STRAC.
On July 21, Metro Health reported 211 children under the age of 1 had contracted COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic. That number has jumped to 431.
In total, more than 4,200 cases have been reported in children ages 17 and under. Also, 62 of those children have been hospitalized.
Dr. Liao is concerned with schools reopening soon.
“Even though children may be asymptomatic, meaning they won’t have symptoms, they won’t really be affected by it, but they’re still going to be live carriers of the virus. They can spread that virus to their family members or to other children who may become symptomatic,” Dr. Liao said.
Liao said they hope to have the guidelines completed by the end of the month, but hopes they won’t have to use it.