One third of new COVID-19 cases in NSW are in children, but there are no kids in the ICU

Around one third of the new coronavirus cases in NSW in the past week have been in children and teenagers.

In the past 24 hours, 177 children under 10 tested positive to COVID-19 and a further 215 aged 10 to 19 caught the virus.

Despite this, there are no children in the ICU, and most children in hospital are there because their parents are also sick and they risk passing the virus on.

READ MORE: NSW records 1290 local COVID-19 cases, four deaths

When mother-of-three Joanne Siamani contracted COVID-19, she feared the worst.

"It's been so heavy on my mind, with my kids and husband at home," she said in a video filmed in Nepean Hospital.

READ MORE: What Australian parents need to know about COVID-19 and children

The 32-year-old from Ropes Crossing was in hospital, her husband also became unwell.

He was taken to Westmead while their boys, who also tested positive, went to the COVID-19 ward at the neighbouring Children's Hospital.

"I was crying and I was like, I can't find my kids, I draw all my energy to god, I told him just hold them," she said.

Dr Philip Britton, Paediatric Infectious Diseases physician and Early Career Researcher based at the Children's Hospital at Westmead, said less than one per cent of children with COVID-19 require medical care.

"Younger children often come in having difficulty feeding and need fluids support and then teenagers with COVID 19 affecting the lungs," he told 9News.

While the majority of children recover quickly, many parents are now worried about the long term side effects.

But these are also less severe in children - with only one to two per cent suffering symptoms beyond two months.

"The two most common symptoms are persistent cough and fatigue and a smaller number will have loss of smell," Dr Britton said.

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