Pratibha Raman/Bengaluru

“I spent most of my time talking with myself,” said 16-year-old Prarthna (name changed) to her mother, when she was tested positive for COVID-19. Prarthna’s family in Bengaluru’s JP Nagar is extremely careful with respect to following COVID protocol. She went cycling with the community 3 weeks ago. Despite wearing a double mask and gloves, she wonders even today as to how she contracted the virus.

“I wasn’t so worried when my second daughter was COVID-hit,” said Prarthna’s mother Priya K (name changed), who is a homemaker. With Prarthna being a girl of few words, Priya was worried her daughter may not be very forthcoming with respect to her symptoms. “Prarthna prefers to have her space. And she is very reserved. I kept calling her every few hours to note down her readings and to keep checking on her,” added Priya.

Fortunately for Priya, she was mostly asymptomatic, except for the initial two days when she was down with fever, just 17 days ago.

Can’t let our guard down

Data collected from the COVID war room in Karnataka points to shocking figures concerning children. From March, 2020 to 29 March, 2021, the number of children (between 0 to 9 years) affected by COVID stands at 27,000 along and  28 deaths. 64,806 children aged between 10 to 19 years contracted the virus in the same period, of which 46 died.

Covid ward for children

But, statistics from 29 March, 2021 to 18 May this year show 40,013 COVID-affected children. Of these, 15 succumbed to the virus. In all, 1,05,789 between 10 to 19 years were tested positive in the same period, registering 16 deaths.

That’s a whopping 80% increase witnessed in the last two months. While experts believe that COVID third wave in India could affect children the worst, they are already turning victims of the second wave.

“The second wave has already been cruel to us. I lost my father to COVID. I was tested positive along with my second child Prerna (name changed). We were quarantined together for 17 days. Fortunately, Prerna is attached to me and she could stay with me. But I was worried for my in-laws, who were affected by COVID too,” said Priya, who heaved a sigh of relief while claiming that all recovered with no complication. Yet, the element of COVID fear continues to haunt her.

“Prerna turned 10 while she was quarantined with me. And honestly, she was the one who kept me sane during that time. Now, here I’m worried about the third wave,” she exclaimed.

Inside the Covid ward for Children 

Complications in recovered children

While most children currently affected by COVID have remained asymptomatic, their bodies could perhaps develop complications later, believe doctors.

“One of the complications in kids is diabetes. I have seen just this morning, a 9-year-old child walk in with a sugar level of about 600. The child has a history of being COVID-affected. And this is a known entity. I’m worried more about kids who are asymptomatic. They can land up with a lot more complications,” said Dr Sai Shankar, Pediatrician, Intensivist and Neonatologist, Sakra World Hospital, Bengaluru.

Now, imagine this. According to Shankar, 1% of the kids could land up with severe symptoms. We are talking about crores and crores of kids. And 1 percent of that could end up in lakhs of children, “Is this scary? We should learn from what has happened till now. I strongly believe the next wave will affect kids. It’s better to be prepared than to be sorry,” the doctor asserted.

Play time for the little patients

According to Shankar, there are two ways to fight the virus. One is to get vaccinated and follow COVID protocol. And the other is through herd immunity. COVID always tries to find ways to mutate, become deadlier, or find new hosts. “If most of the adults get vaccinated, children are left behind. And that’s why the next wave could be detrimental for children,” he explained.

How prepared is the government?

Karnataka’s woman and child welfare minister Shashikala Jolle announced that the government will set up special pediatric COVID Care Centres in all 30 districts. That apart, the minister stressed on the fact that the government will introduce measures to rehabilitate children (0 to 18 years) orphaned by corona virus.

Morbidity among children is very less because the immune system is not completely formed. So, they have the advantage of protecting themselves better, said deputy CM of Karnataka Dr CN Ashwathnarayan, who heads the COVID task force. However, can this mutating virus ever be trusted?

“In the third wave, children could be affected more. That’s the prediction. With regard to this data, the initiative has already begun. Vaccine trials have started for children. We need to see how things pan. Once the vaccines are available, the vaccination process will be scheduled in full swing. Along with this, the infrastructure will be scaled up,” Ashwathnarayan added.

With Karnataka reeling under hospital bed scarcity, oxygen shortage and vaccine insufficiency, how will the government handle the third wave, questioned Congress leader Siddaramaiah. “The second wave was neglected. Now, vaccinating all above 18 should be the priority of the government,” the leader of the opposition insisted.

Bengaluru residents step forward

Inside the children's ward

A group of volunteers from Whitefield Rising in Bengaluru have taken the initiative to set up three quarantine centres and one COVID Care Centre to help children from economically poor backgrounds. Realising that such kids need support, nodal officer Uma Mahadevan brought such volunteer groups together.

The members of Whitefield Rising tied up with Motherhood and Rainbow Hospitals, along with Aahan Vahan and Dream India Network to set up a COVID Care Centre at Medahalli near KR Puram. This place can accommodate 75 children.

“We are raising funds to take care of the centres. If we have to run it for 4 months, we need to look at raising Rs 1.75 crore,” said Zibi Jamal, a member of Whitefield Rising.

According to Zibi, this wave has seen more families being affected, and more kids being orphaned. “Kids have become more vulnerable. While they recover fast, the elders in the family seem to succumb to the virus, leaving these kids all alone,” she stated.

When Priya wakes her little daughter up every morning, she mentions a plan when COVID is gone. “From going on a holiday, playing with her friends to swimming in the pool, my daughter makes a plan looking forward to the day when all this will be over,” said Priya, who is not the only parent wishing their child’s post-COVID dreams soon turn true.