Texas Tribune erroneously reports 5,800 children were hospitalized due to COVID in first week of August

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In media news today, female viewers turn off 'Cuomo Prime Time' in droves, MSNBC's Joy Reid says DeSantis and Republicans are 'killing children' with COVID polices, and Brian Stelter gets roasted by critics after his interview with Stephen Colbert

The Texas Tribune mistakenly inflated the number of children hospitalized by COVID-19 in the first week of August.

On Thursday, the paper published a piece titled "Texas children and children’s hospitals are under siege from two viruses: RSV and COVID-19." Writer Reese Oxner covered what appeared to be growing rates of the coronavirus as well as RSV among Texas pediatric hospitals.

"More children are being treated in Texas hospitals for COVID-19 than ever before. But there’s a second factor that is putting pediatric hospitals on the path to being overwhelmed: an unseasonable outbreak of respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, a highly contagious virus that can require hospitalization mostly among children 5 years and younger and especially infants," Oxner wrote.

The original report claimed over 5,800 children had been hospitalized within a seven-day period in August. However, the 5,800 number actually refers to the number of children that have been hospitalized with COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic. The Texas Tribune added a correction, noting the mistake in their numbers.

WASHINGTON POST FACT CHECKER ATTACKS GOP FOR CRITICIZING FAULTY STUDY 

"An earlier version of this story overstated the number of children who have been hospitalized in Texas recently with COVID-19. The story said over 5,800 children had been hospitalized during a seven-day period in August, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That number correctly referred to children hospitalized with COVID-19 since the pandemic began. In actuality, 783 children were admitted to Texas hospitals with COVID-19 between July 1 and Aug. 9 of this year."

But before their correction, the false numbers were shared by Washington Post blogger Jennifer Rubin, who has since deleted her tweet. 

"Unconscionable: Over 5,800 children in Texas were newly hospitalized with COVID-19 in the seven-day period ending on Aug. 8, a 37% increase from a week prior. where is the pro-life movement ?? it's now a death cult," she tweeted on Thursday. 

The correction was first noticed by Bloomberg reporter Steven Dennis.

"That’s one heck of a correction," Dennis tweeted. 

Media critic Steve Krakauer commented that the damage was already done since the misleading numbers have been widely shared by Rubin and Democratic operatives. 

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Of the over 5,800 children hospitalized with COVID-19 since 2020, Texas recorded 59 deaths of kids age 0-19.