#Young people across the southern US are testing positive for coronavirus

Florida, South Carolina, Georgia, Texas are among the states that are seeing a shift in age demographic, CNN reported Sunday — after initial studies showed older folks were more likely to contract COVID-19.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said last week that those under 30 accounted for the majority of new infections in several counties.

“And this typically results from people going to the bar-type settings,” Abbott said, adding that Memorial Day weekend celebrations or other gatherings could be to blame, according to the Texas Tribune.

And in Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis said new coronavirus cases were “shifting in a radical direction” to patients in their 20s and 30s, according to CNN.

“We’re also seeing that not only are they testing positive because they’re testing more, they’re also testing positive at a higher rate increasingly over the last week,” DeSantis said.

DeSantis said that 37 was the median age over the last week for newly diagnosed coronavirus cases, CNN reported.

“That is a big change from where we were at the end of March and the beginning of April. It was skewing much older at that time,” he said.

Meanwhile, in South Carolina, people under the age of 30 are also increasingly testing positive for the virus, with those between the ages of 21 and 30 accounting for around 18 percent of the state’s cases, according to the report.

“The increases that we’re seeing serve as a warning that young adults and youth are not immune to COVID-19,” said Dr. Brannon Traxler, the state’s Department of Health and Environmental Control physician consultant, according to the report.

And in Georgia, the largest hospital also recorded an increase in patients in their 20s and 30s, news station WSB reported.

“It’s a little bit of a disturbing trend, and what frightens me is not only that they are younger, the potential of them infecting other people, particularly parents and grandparents,” Dr. Robert Jansen, chief medical officer at Grady Health System, told WSB.

The shift in demographics comes as at least 23 states are seeing a rise in new case counts compared to last week, CNN reported.

Ten of those states — including Texas and Florida — saw cases jump more than 50 percent in that timeframe, the outlet said.