NEW YORK (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 13th May, 2020) New York State is investigating some 100 cases of children falling ill with a dangerous multisystem inflammatory syndrome that is possibly linked to infection with the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), Governor Andrew Cuomo said in a press briefing on Tuesday.
"We are now dealing with an issue that is very disturbing: we have about 100 cases of an inflammatory disease in young children that seems to be created by the COVID-19 virus," Cuomo said.
The syndrome is similar to Kawasaki disease that causes heart and kidney failure and mostly affects young children. Three children - a five-year-old boy, a seven-year-old boy, and an 18-year-old girl - have already died from the illness.
Of those affected by the syndrome in New York, 29 percent are 5-9 years-old, 28 percent are 10-14, and 18 percent are 1-4. Cuomo pointed out that some 4 percent of the confirmed cases are 21-21 years old.
The governor added that the disease might have emerged throughout other US states but has not yet been diagnosed.
Earlier in the day, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said that at least 52 cases of the Kawasaki-like syndrome have been confirmed in the city, while 10 more are being investigated.
