California child dies of coronavirus — believed to be first kid fatality in US

A child has died of the coronavirus in California, authorities said Tuesday — the first apparent fatality of someone under age 18 in the country.

“A devastating reminder that COVID-19 infects people of all ages,” Barbara Ferrer, head of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, said in announcing three new deaths from the virus in the county, along with 128 more confirmed cases..

The department added of the fatalities in a statement, “One individual was a youth under the age of 18, and two other individuals were between 50-70 years old.

“The individual under the age of 18 resided in Lancaster.

“One of the individuals between 50-70 years old had underlying health conditions and resided in West Adams, the other is from a location that is still under investigation.

The CDC said in a report issued last week that fewer than 1 percent of confirmed coronavirus cases in the US have involved people age 19 or younger so far — and that no one in that group had died to date.

A 14-year-old boy in China was previously reported to have died from the virus, as was a victim in Spain between the age of 10 and 19.

LA now has reported 662 cases and 11 deaths from the virus.