ATLANTA — State officials confirmed Thursday the death of a 7-year-old boy in Chatham County due to COVID-19.
The only information about the boy released by the state was in its COVID-19 deaths data. That data showed that he was a Black child with no chronic conditions.
"Yes, unfortunately it is true. It is included in the deaths listed by county on the website. That’s all the information we can provide due to HIPAA and concerns about confidentiality," Georgia Department of Public Health spokeswoman Nancy Nydam said in an email to 11Alive.
The Chatham County coroner told NBC sister station WSAV in Savannah that the boy had a seizure in the shower before being rushed to the emergency room. He later died int he hospital.
The coroner told WSAV that the boy attended a local church where he came into contact with two elderly members who tested positive for COVID-19. Those two people also died.
The boy becomes Georgia's youngest death and the first small child. Previously, a 17-year-old in Fulton County was the state's only death of a minor. That teenager was listed as having chronic conditions.
Deaths in young children due to the coronavirus have so far been rare, with provisional CDC data showing roughly 45 deaths attributed to COVID-19 in children under the age of 15 nationally.
Confirmation of the Chatham County boy's death comes as Georgia surpassed on Thursday 4,000 total deaths over the course of the pandemic.
This is a developing story. Refresh for updates.
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