COVID-19 hospitalizations among children have been overreported.
According to CDC, 35.2% of COVID-19 deaths under age 18 cannot plausibly be connected to COVID, and 10.2% of those aged 18 to 29.[1]
The CDC's own most recent study found that 45% of the pediatric hospitalizations in the COVID count were likely due to merely incidental positives. COVID was unrelated to why they were hospitalized.[2]