13-Year-Old Dies From COVID-19 Complications, Found Unresponsive At Home

KEY POINTS

The 13-year-old was found not breathing early Tuesday morning
Several members of his family had been recovering from COVID-19
The school district does not have options for virtual learning until the infection rate hits 5%

A 13-year-old student at Coosa High School in Floyd County, Georgia, was pronounced dead after he was found unresponsive at home amid his battle with COVID-19.

Porter Helms, 13, was found unresponsive by his father early Tuesday morning. He was taken to the hospital by emergency responders where he was pronounced dead at 5.55 a.m. His family, some of whom were still recovering from the virus, were notified.

The young boy’s cause of death was later listed as respiratory failure due to a COVID-19 infection, according to Floyd County Coroner Gene Proctor, Fox 5 Atlanta reported.

Students at Coosa High School have been required to wear face masks since last week after the infection rate in the area hit 2%. Currently, the school district does not offer virtual learning options for the students unless the infection rate surpasses 5%.

"Let the kids go virtual, what’s it going to hurt? Let us homeschool them if that’s what we need," Caprice Willitts, mother of a 15-year-old student who had classes with Helms, told the publication. "I mean, it makes me want to pull them out. But then we’re going to get in trouble."

The highly contagious Delta variant has been causing a surge of COVID-19 cases statewide among the youth. According to data from Georgia’s Department of Health, officials have already confirmed 4,853 cases in children under the age of 1. At least 258 were admitted to the hospital. No deaths have been reported for the age group.

In children aged 1 to 4, there have been 18,271 cases, with 316 hospitalizations and two deaths. The figure is nearly double -- 33,060 cases -- among children aged 5 to 9. In this age group, 244 were hospitalized and two have died.

Among children aged 10 to 17, the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases has hit 98,538, with 894 admitted to the hospital and 11 dead.

As of Wednesday, the seven-day moving average COVID-19 cases among children under the age of 1 was 54. Among children ages 1 to 4, the average has gone up to 222. The number is more than double in children aged 5 to 9, with a seven-day average of 512 new cases. Among children aged 10 to 17, the seven-day average is currently at 1,356.

According to Georgia’s Department of Health, COVID-19 has so far infected 1,097,709 people in the state and claimed 19,806 lives.