WATCH: Talking to college-aged adults about COVID-19's long-term health risks

Although young adults are less likely to die from the coronavirus, people aged 18 to 29 years are the “major drivers” of transmission in the United States, and the second largest group of people who are hospitalized for COVID, said Dr. Ranit Mishori of Georgetown University. In a conversation with PBS NewsHour's John Yang on Nov. 23 about how Americans should approach the holiday season amid the pandemic, Mishori noted that even those who contract mild cases can suffer long-term health problems, a group known as “long haulers.”

Mishori personally knows of people in their early 20s or their late teens who fall into that category. So although parents with children in that age range may face resistance, the risks they face if they don't follow pandemic precautions, like limiting social interaction and wearing masks when seeing people outside of their family's household, are real.

“I want to emphasize that even mild cases can be very, very serious for a lot of people for many weeks and months to come,” Mishori said.

Stream your PBS favorites with the PBS app: https://to.pbs.org/2Jb8twG
Find more from PBS NewsHour at https://www.pbs.org/newshour
Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://bit.ly/2HfsCD6

Follow us:
Facebook: http://www.pbs.org/newshour
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/newshour
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/newshour


Subscribe:
PBS NewsHour podcasts: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/podcasts
Newsletters: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/subscribe