Fox News host says kids 'don't die from COVID.' Over 400 have in the US alone.

Fox News host Rachel Campos-Duffy on Wednesday claimed that children “don’t die from COVID,” but since the viral outbreak began in 2020, hundreds of children have.

Campos-Duffy, who also appears as a contributor on the network, made the comment on “The Faulkner Focus” during a discussion of the use of masks in schools.

“Does the vaccine work? … So if the vaccines work, why are you worried about children being unmasked?” Campos-Duffy asked. Told by another guest, “I’m worried about kids under 12 who don’t have the vaccine,” she responded, “The kids survive COVID, they don’t die from COVID. It’s very, very rare.”

Data collected by the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children’s Hospital Association shows that since May 2020 and through Aug. 26 of this year, at least 425 children have died of COVID in the United States. The same data shows that at least 812,130 children have been hospitalized and 4.7 million overall cases of children with COVID-19 have been recorded.

The rates of infection, hospitalization, and mortality among children are much lower than among adults, but they can get COVID-19 and die, and data suggests that children are more vulnerable to the delta variant, and rates of hospitalization soar. Children’s Hospital Association CEO Mark Wietecha said in a news release, “Our children’s health care safety net is under unprecedented strain.”

In a letter to President Joe Biden, Wietecha said, “With pediatric volumes at or near capacity and the upcoming school season expected to increase demand, there may not be sufficient bed capacity or expert staff to care for children and families in need.”

At a Tuesday briefing by the White House COVID-19 Response Team, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky noted, “With regard to pediatric hospitalizations, we know that there’s an absolute number of children that — because of this highly transmissible variant — an absolute number of children that are infected now with SARS-CoV-2. And because of that absolute number, there’s a larger number of children in the hospital.”

Campos-Duffy has previously offered unscientific commentary on the virus on Fox News, adding to the network’s ongoing campaign of misinformation about COVID-19 and safety measures.

In August of 2020, as transmission and deaths were surging, Campos-Duffy falsely claimed that there was “some debate” within the scientific community “about whether masks are good or not.” By that point, CDC recommendations to wear masks were already several months old.

In November of 2020, Campos-Duffy attacked recommendations that families not gather for Thanksgiving out of concerns that the virus could be transmitted. She described the warnings as “government Marxism.”

Campos-Duffy made her comments as the American death toll from the virus was surpassing 300,000. As of Sept. 1, 2021, that toll stands at 640,478.

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.