New Zealand reports first-ever COVID death of 9-year-old; calls arise to vaccinate kids

New Zealand has recorded the first-ever death of a child due to COVID-19 infection in the area where at least three new Omicron cases have been reported. The demise of the child, who was under the age of nine, has prompted calls to prioritise the inoculation of the kids.

New Zealand has marked the death of the youngest person from the virus, bringing the total fatalities in the country to 49, according to the latest update from the country’s health ministry. 

505 active COIVD-19 infections in kids

New Zealand media reports that it remains unclear if the child, believed to be a Māori boy from Counties Manukau, had any underlying medical conditions that may have flared his COVID-19 symptoms and eventually led to his death. The data shared by the country's Ministry of Health shows that there are at least 505 active COVID-19 infections among children aged between 1 and 9.

Dr. Matire Harwood of the Papakura Marae Health Clinic told The New Zealand Herald that the child's death was shocking, tragic, and sobering.

New Zealand Director General of Health Ashley Bloomfield reportedly said that the outbreak of Omicron was "by no means inevitable".

Sources told another outlet, Canberra Times, that the kid had died from the coronavirus earlier this week, although it remains unknown if the infection was driven by the highly mutated Omicron B.1.1.529 variant.

"The death remains under investigation and has been referred to the coroner," a ministry spokesperson was quoted as saying by the country's leading newspaper. New Zeland has been on high alert for the Omicron variant since the first case was detected at the Christchurch hotel on Thursday last week.

Later, the health officials recorded further three cases, unlinked to the first in Rotorua. All the Omicron cases were detected in overseas travellers that entered Auckland from the UK, Spain, and Nigeria, transitting via Dubai. Furthermore, at least three contacts of the first case of the Omicron have tested positive for the new COVID-19 strain, although it is yet to be established. The first case is a returnee from Germany.