Visits to the emergency room for cases of child abuse and neglect of children under 18 years of age dropped by 53% in mid-March compared to the same time frame in 2019, according to a new analysis by the CDC. The sharp decline began just days after the federal government declared a national emergency due to Covid-19 and many communities locked down to contain the spread of the virus. … Despite the drop, the study found the number of abused children who required hospitalization remained the same as last year, "suggesting that injury severity did not decrease during the pandemic," the CDC researchers said.