3-Year-Old Child Dies Of COVID-19 As 'Tsunami' Of Cases Overwhelm Hospitals

A 3-year-old girl in Hong Kong died after contracting COVID-19, making her the latest fatality as the region saw a spike in the cases among the young.

The government disclosed the child's death Tuesday evening, but did not reveal if she had any pre-existing illnesses. The child was the youngest to have died in the current COVID-19 outbreak. A 100-year-old woman with chronic illness also died of COVID-19, making her the oldest resident to succumb to the illness recently, Bloomberg reported.

The unidentified girl had been in intensive care at the Hong Kong Children’s Hospital since Sunday, but her condition deteriorated, and she died Tuesday evening, the government said, according to RTHK.HK.

In a statement, the authorities said they were "saddened about the passing away of the patients and would offer the necessary assistance to their families."

The toddler’s death comes amid a global surge of young COVID-19 patients, which has given rise to concerns about the risk of severe illness, though such cases remain rare.

The government in Hong Kong on Tuesday lowered the age limit to get the Sinovac Biotech Ltd. vaccine to three years. Children between five and 11 can get the BioNTech SE shot from Wednesday, authorities said.

Meanwhile, the government said Tuesday it was facing “a tsunami” of new COVID-19 cases that had overwhelmed its hospitals, and left more than 10,000 people waiting for treatment.

“A tsunami of new cases has far exceeded the enhanced capacities of Hong Kong on various fronts including testing, tracing, quarantine, isolation and treatment,” a statement said, adding hospitals “are facing immense pressure, and cannot admit all cases tested preliminarily positive or confirmed for COVID-19.”

Amid the growing number of COVID-19 cases among children, Chuang Shuk-kwan – the head of communicable diseases at the Center for Health Protection – reportedly said 4 percent of patients are now four years old or younger.

"It is very different from the previous four waves, when only a small number of children were infected," she said, adding pediatricians believe COVID-19 may trigger complications in young children more easily than adults.

The Chinese Special Administrative Region (SAR) on Tuesday reported a record 7,000 cases (1,600 confirmed and 5,400 preliminary positives).