- June 24, 2020 – The number of young adults testing positive for COVID-19 has increased dramatically in recent weeks across many states.
The spike among those age 20-39 could be explained by a combination of increased testing, rejection of social distancing and the use of masks and continued misconception among
young people that they’re not as likely to becoming infected or become seriously ill.
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“I see people in my cohort who aren’t social distancing and wearing masks,” says Hayley, 23, a nursing grad student at Emory who asked that her last name not be used. She had COVID in March, and she’s not sure where she caught it. “To see people not taking it seriously is frustrating.”
While Florida and Texas both relaxed restrictions early, more cautious states like California haven’t escaped the trend. People under the age of 35 now make up more than 44% of new cases there, up from 29% in May, according to an analysis in the San Jose Mercury News.
“We’ve built up this illness with the myth of it being siloed by age, and it’s not,” says Lawrence Kleinman, MD, professor and vice chair of Pediatrics at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in New Brunswick, N.J. “Now that we have young adults flouting social distancing, we’re seeing the disease at a population level. If enough people are exposed enough, they’re going to get the virus – and they’re going to be spreaders and super-spreaders.”
A Widespread Trend
The CDC has been tracking demographic data for almost 2 million confirmed cases in the U.S. Accounting for 17% of the total, the 18-29 age group is second only to people 50-64.
The problem goes well beyond Texas, Florida, and California. Clusters with a larger proportion of young people have been noted in a number of other states, including Arizona, Colorado, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Washington and Wisconsin.
In Baton Rouge, LA, at least 100 cases were linked to the Tigerland nightlife district near the campus of Louisiana State University. Fraternity rush parties at the University of Mississippi have been blamed for an outbreak in Oxford, where more than 80% of new infections were in people ages 18 to 24, according to The New York Times.
A University of Georgia student, who had COVID from mid-March to mid-April of this year, says she thinks she was infected on a trip to New Orleans with friends. Meredith, who also requested her last name not be used, is 21, and said New Orleans was just starting to see a COVID-19 surge.
“It was on our minds. All of us were washing our hands, but we weren’t necessarily wearing masks,” she says. “The day we drove out of New Orleans, they were shutting down Bourbon Street.”
Now back in Athens, GA, “Bars are opening up. I don’t see a lot of college kids wearing masks,” she says. “It’s concerning.”
Explaining the Spread
In a CDC survey of attitudes towards stay-at-home orders and social distancing guidelines, people aged 18-24 were significantly less likely than other groups to agree that nonessential workers should stay home. Less than 30% said they were consistently staying 6 feet away from other people, and only 44.4% said they always wore a mask in public.
“There’s a normal sense of invincibility at this age,” says Kleinman, the Rutgers professor. “Plus, the additional confidence that comes from the myth that this age group is spared.”
Mark Ebell, MD, a professor of epidemiology at University of Georgia’s College of Public Health, agrees. Up to 90% of younger people are asymptomatic, plus “they tend to be willing to take more risks,” he says.
Some officials attribute the increase in cases among younger people to more widespread testing. In the beginning of the outbreak, only people with symptoms got tested, states a health coach from Roseville California. Now many places offer them to anyone who wants one.
But public health experts point out that because younger people are more likely to ignore restrictions, they’re making it easier for coronavirus to spread.
“This creates a reservoir of disease moving around in the population, simmering, if you will,” Judith Malmgren, an epidemiologist at the University of Washington, told NPR. "This can spike to
uncontrollable levels in more vulnerable adults very quickly.“
Twenty-three-year-old Gayeon, another young adult who requested her last name not be used, just graduated from the University of Georgia. She is being careful not to be infected. “I keep hearing about people having house parties or frat parties. Georgia loosening up gives the impression we’re not in a pandemic,” she says.
College Athletes Testing Positive
Another possible source of the spread among young people: college athletes returning to practice. As programs screen players, they discover positive cases:
- Several football players at the University of Alabama have tested positive, including at least one who participated in player-led workout sessions.
- At the University of Texas, 13 football players have tested or been presumed positive.
- Clemson University in South Carolina confirmed that 23 football players have tested positive.
- At least 30 of Louisiana State University’s 115-member football team have been isolated after testing positive or being in contact with someone who has.