the last week. in neighboring connecticut, governor ned lamont calling up nearly 100 national guard members to help distribute millions of at-home covid tests and n95 masks. i will talk to the governor, in just a few minutes. but first, let's begin tonight with our alexandra field. she is out front. alex, very concerning signs tonight of what is to come. >> reporter: and particularly, for parents. look, poppy, tonight the number of children who are hospitalized with covid is relatively speaking extremely low. but as we see cases climb, so will hospitalizations and that will include more children. so, public health officials are pleading with parents who can get their kids vaccinated to get their kids vaccinated. a new surge in covid cases is bringing with it another spike in pediatric hospitalizations, up nearly 50% nationwide. children still make up an extremely small percentage of people hospitalized for covid and are still far less likely to become severely ill than adults