As COVID-19 cases climb among children across the country, San Francisco is an exception.
No children were hospitalized and fewer than five cases were linked to in-school transmission since classes resumed last month, according to data released by the San Francisco Department of Public Health on Thursday.
Since the start of the pandemic, children in San Francisco have accounted for 11.5% of positive COVID-19 tests. Amid the spread of the delta variant over the last few months, those numbers remained largely stable. San Francisco residents under the age of 18 represented 12.8% of positive tests in June, 10.8% in July and 12.8% in August.
Officials are very encouraged by the start of the school year.
"Speaking to our local context, we can feel reassured, looking at our data, that it is possible to have kids get that essential in-school education and socialization experience (while) still staying safe from COVID-19," Dr. Susan Philip, Health Officer with the city public health department, told KCBS Radio's Jeff Bell and Patti Reising in an interview on Thursday.
The American Association of Pediatrics said this week that children represented 26.8% of reported COVID-19 cases for the week ending Sept. 2. In a two-week span ending that day, the total number of cases among children during the pandemic increased by 10%.
San Francisco bucked childhood infection trends, Dr. Philip said, because of its high vaccination rates among eligible children. The city estimated that 90% of children aged 12-17 are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, as well as 81% of all residents older than 12.
"It creates an entire level of protection in the community that extends down to people who cannot yet be vaccinated, like our younger kids," Dr. Philip said, adding that mask mandates within schools have been "key" to preventing infections.
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