Eight of the nine new Covid-19 patients reported in Niagara County between Tuesday and Wednesday were under the age of 30, and three of those were juveniles, raising concerns for Public Health Director Daniel J. Stapleton.
The cases were spread around the county and were not connected to any particular gathering or event, Stapleton said.
The three juvenile patients are ages 12, 14 and 16, Stapleton said. Five of the remaining six were adults under 30, and the ninth case was in a 75-year-old. Contact tracing showed the new cases were not connected to any previously known patients, he added.
The Niagara County cases follow a broader trend in the region and across the country of younger people contracting the virus.
Since the expanded reopening over the past couple of months, Erie County has reported that roughly half of all new Covid-19 cases have come from people in their 20s and 30s.
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Erie County residents in their 20s now comprise the single largest age group of individuals who have tested positive for the virus, with more than 900 cases confirmed positive, followed by adults in their 30s.
None of the newly discovered Niagara County patients is hospitalized, but the reported illness among kids is worrisome with schools and colleges about to reopen, the health director said.
"The risk increases with schools opening. We know that," Stapleton said. "We have to manage that risk."
He said the apparent community spread of the virus among young people worries him, too.
"Young people don't seem to think they're vulnerable, or their parents don't," Stapleton said. "We cannot emphasize enough that young people are susceptible to Covid-19 and must take precautions like social distancing and wearing masks.”
Wednesday's report pushed Niagara County's caseload since the pandemic began to 1,538. Of those, 99 patients have died, although only one this month, and 1,406 have recovered. The county has 33 active cases, including the new ones, but only three of the 33 are hospitalized.
The rash of cases among young people came as the county's overall infection rate remained extremely low. Since Friday, 18 new cases have been found among more than 2,700 county residents tested, a positive rate of 0.65%.
The county has 69 people in quarantine because of possible exposure to known Covid-19 patients, while 1,578 have completed quarantine since the pandemic started in March.
News Staff Reporter Sandra Tan contributed to this story.
