that s a key point, especially when you look at averaging 400,000 cases, new infections a day and knocks you back on your heels. to your point with omicron so far the data tells us most of these cases are not as severe which is why this from the former fda commissioner scott got lieb over the weekend jumped out at me. listen to this, sir. it does appear now based on a lot of experimental evidence that we ve gotten in the last two weeks that this is a mild form of the coronavirus. it appears to be more of an upper airway disease than a lower airway disease. good for most americans. the one group that that may be a problem for is very young children, toddlers, who have trouble with upper airway infections. this is your wheelhouse, proceedtic infectious diseases it, what does he mean by toddlers and the upper airway problem? well, anecdotally here in alabama we ve been seeing as an example of this to what dr. gotlieb was getting at. we ve been seeing younger children, you know, 1
vaccination prevents disease. it s got to move from those refrigerators into arms and that s what we need to focus on, children and then, of course, we have adult neighbors who haven t got enl their vaccination. come on income the water is fine. there s a lot of focus early on, you and i talked about it a number of times, that a lot of people would say it s not as severe for kids. we know that kids, perhaps less often than adults, but kids can get severely ill. we ve been looking at the hospitalization rates for kids tick up here. we ve also heard specifically about omicron and more from the former commissioner dr. scott gotlieb. it s more of an upper airway group and that s good for most americans but toddlers have trouble with upper airway infections. toddlers, of course, children
the one group that s a problem for is young children. toddlers who have trouble with upper airway infections. we are seeing more croup like infections in new york city among children, it could be a challenge for young kids and we are seeing rising populations in that segment. and it could have a bigger challenge in young kids if it s upper airway, because of the way it binds to the airway cells. that s really speaking to what you were just saying. that s exactly right and i m so glad that he is highlighting this. we cannot treat the airways of children like they are the airways of adults. it s not the way it works. and for us as pediatricians, we know that these infections can lead to croup and other problems. once again, this is not the time to minimize covid-19 as an illness in children. this is now the time to take every tool we have and use it to
airway disease, that is good for most americans. the one group that s a problem for is young children. toddlers who have trouble with upper airway infections. we are seeing more croup like infections in new york city among children, it could be a challenge for young kids and we are seeing rising populations in that segment. and it could have a bigger challenge in young kids if it s upper airway, because of the way it binds to the airway cells. that s really speaking to what you were just saying. that s exactly right and i m so glad that he is highlighting this. we cannot treat the airways of children like they are the airways of adults. it s not the way it works. and for us as pediatricians, we know that these infections can lead to croup and other problems. once again, this is not the time to minimize covid-19 as an illness in children.
children, toddlers who have trouble with upper airway infections. we are seeing rising hospitalizations among that pediatric segment. reporter: school districts across the country struggling with how to bring students safely back to school. five metro atlanta schools going remote for the first week of the new year while seattle, chicago, and d.c. schools delay their start dates to allow time for more testing. but the largest district in the nation, new york city schools, is bringing students back to class with a new mayor committing to in-person learning. we re not sending an unclear message of what is going to happen day to day. i m going to tell you what s going to happen day to day. we are staying open. reporter: it s part of a shift being seen in more of the country toward finding ways to coexist with covid. crowds filling stadiums for holiday bowl games. the nfl and nba easing restrictions on players last week. but there are still consequences of the crushingly high case cou