12-year-old on ventilator after testing positive for coronavirus in Georgia, family says

A 12-year-old girl in Atlanta is on a ventilator after testing positive for coronavirus this weekend, her family says.

Justin Anthony says his cousin, Emma, was diagnosed with pneumonia on March 15 before testing positive for COVID-19 on Friday, CNN reported. By Saturday, Emma was on a ventilator.

Anthony initially said Emma was in stable condition at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, according to WGCL. The hospital confirmed its first case of coronavirus on Saturday.

Anthony later told CNN that x-ray’s of Emma’s lungs taken Tuesday showed “good improvement” and that she was “slowly waking up out of sedation and is responding well to her dad and mom.”

Emma’s family doesn’t know how she contracted the virus — she hadn’t been traveling and had no preexisting conditions, CNN reported.

Emma’s 13-year-old brother is in isolation at home while her mother is staying with her at the hospital, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.

Anthony told the outlet he wants people to know children are also at risk.

“Kids can get it and I know one who’s fighting for her life,” he said.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, children who test positive for COVID-19 tend to have mild cold-like symptoms such as fever, runny nose and cough.

Children with underlying conditions and special healthcare needs are at risk for more severe illness, the CDC says, but there’s still much to learn about how the virus affects children.

A 14-year-old boy is the only child who died of the 731 confirmed children with coronavirus in China, CNN reported. Nearly 6 percent of children’s cases were severe compared to 18.5 percent of adults who showed symptoms, according to the outlet.

This story was originally published March 23, 2020 at 6:02 AM with the headline "12-year-old on ventilator after testing positive for coronavirus in Georgia, family says."