Three children died of a “COVID-19 related illness” this week, as announced by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo.

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“Three young New Yorkers have died of what may be a COVID-related illness in children,”  Cuomo said during a press conference Saturday.”We thought initially that young people were not affected by COVID-19. We’re not so sure that that is the fact anymore.”

So far, Hospitals have found 73 cases of the newly-identified condition among toddlers and elementary-school-age children in New York state. It is being called pediatric multisymptom inflammatory syndrome.

The New York State Department of Health is investigating the rise in new cases. They are also working on national guidelines for hospitals across the rest of the country that may find similar cases. 

“This is an extremely rare and previously unknown presentation of COVID-19 in children,” the Mount Sinai Health System said in a statement Friday. The statement was made in response to the death of a 5-year-old boy. His passing marks the first known death from the condition in the United States.

NY Health officials list possible symptoms as follows:

– Prolonged fever
– Difficulty feeding (infants) or is too sick to drink fluids
– Severe abdominal pain, diarrhea or vomiting
– Change in skin color – becoming pale, patchy and/or blue
– Trouble breathing or is breathing very quickly
– Racing heart or chest pain
– Decreased amount of frequency in urine
– Lethargy, irritability or confusion

[Via]