De Blasio says 82 NYC kids sickened with Kawasaki-like illness

The number of New York City kids sickened with the rare Kawasaki-like inflammatory disease potentially linked to the coronavirus has jumped to more than 80, Mayor Bill de Blasio said Wednesday as he warned that there are still “unanswered questions” surrounding the illness.

“For a long time, thank God, we saw very little impact on our children [in connection with COVID-19],” de Blasio said during his daily coronavirus press briefing. “Now we’re seeing something different.”

The mystery disease, formally known as pediatric multi-system inflammatory syndrome, or PMIS, has been detected in at least 82 Big Apple children, said de Blasio.

“This number has gone up consistently in recent days from a point where we had literally no acknowledgment of this problem because health care professionals weren’t seeing it even just a few weeks ago,” the mayor said.

Of those 82 kids, 53 of them tested positive for coronavirus or had antibodies for the bug, said de Blasio.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo, speaking Wednesday at his daily press conference, said the state Department of Health is investigating 102 children with the illness, similar to Kawasaki disease or toxic shock syndrome.

Sixty percent of the children with symptoms of the illness tested positive for COVID-19, while 40 percent of them tested positive for coronavirus antibodies, state data showed.

A total of 71 percent of the cases resulted in admissions to intensive care units, 19 percent of cases resulted in intubation and 43 percent of the cases remain hospitalized, according to the data.

For the majority of the cases, patients were between the age of 5 and 9, but Cuomo said the age range of the total cases is from under 1 to 21 years old.

The disease has already killed a 5-year-old boy in the city, a 7-year-old boy in Westchester County and an 18-year-old girl in Suffolk County.

“We all have to work together, hoping and praying there will not be another child lost,” Hizzoner said, noting that early detection is key when it comes to the disease.

“We need early detection in this case because we know it can make a huge, huge difference,” said de Blasio.

Symptoms of the illness can include persistent fever, skin rash, abdominal pain, bloodshot eyes, vomiting and diarrhea.

“Those problems, even one of them could suggest the syndrome, but in combination, they especially are worrisome,” de Blasio said, adding, “When you see these problems, reach out to a health care professional immediately.”

Other symptoms, according to the state, include change in skin color (becoming pale, patchy or blue), trouble breathing or breathing very quickly, racing heart or chest pain, lethargy, irritability or confusion, difficulty feeding (infants) or being too sick to drink fluids.

The city is launching a citywide public awareness advertising campaign for the illness, said the mayor.

“We are going to do everything, everything to protect our children,” he said. “Whatever it takes, we’re going to protect the children of New York City.”

Fourteen other states, including California, Connecticut, Delaware and New Jersey, as well as five European countries — Spain, France, England, Italy and Switzerland — have reported cases as well, Cuomo noted.

“As a parent, I can tell you, this is a parent’s worst nightmare,” Cuomo said of the illness.

Cuomo announced that the state Health Department will host a statewide webinar Thursday for all health care providers to discuss the symptoms, testing and care of the inflammatory disease in children related to COVID-19.

Additional reporting by Bernadette Hogan