Covid NSW: Sydney hospitals’ VirtualKids service cares for infected children

New figures show the number of NSW children infected with Covid-19 as Sydney hospitals outline the service used to care for them.

At least 700 children in NSW are now infected with Covid-19, new figures revealed on Thursday.

Doctors from the state’s network of children’s hospitals are now caring for more than 700 children who have tested positive for Covid-19 in their own homes via a “virtual health service”.

The Sydney Children’s Hospital Network, which includes the hospitals at Randwick and Westmead, operates the 24/7 virtual health service called VirtualKids.

“This service provides healthcare, virtually and in person, to children who have tested positive for Covid-19 but are well enough to be cared for at home,” a network spokeswoman said.

The Sydney Children’s Hospital in Randwick is part of the Sydney Children’s Hospital Network that uses the VirtualKids health service. Picture: Toby Zerna

Last week The Daily Telegraph reported that 360 children aged under the age of 10 years were infected with Covid-19 in the five week period ending 26 July.

And the latest available figures from the NSW Health Department’s Covid-19 Weekly Surveillance report, covering the period to July 31, showed 25 children under the age of 17 have been hospitalised.

And while the Delta strain of Covid-19 is infecting more children than the original disease, infectious disease experts say it is still rare for children to develop serious complications.

The rate of a child under four years of age being hospitalised was 1.7 per cent NSW health figures show, and 0.9 per cent for a child aged from 5 to 11 years of age.

That compares to a 15.4 per cent chance of a person aged 18 to 29 being hospitalised and 29.4 per cent chance for an individual aged from 30 to 49 years.

The Sydney Children’s Hospital Network says it also recently set up a “Home in Hospital” service to care for Covid positive children, or children whose parents have been hospitalised with the disease and are themselves too ill to care for them.

“These children are cared for in a state-of-the art, therapeutic, supportive environment, with daily access to schooling, social work, mental health support and child life and music therapy sessions,” a spokeswoman said.

“Keeping families connected is an absolute priority, with all children having access to devices that enable them to contact their loved ones 24/7, using programs like Facetime.”