Quianah Arrington says that she never expected to be apart from her daughter for a month. But then they both were diagnosed with COVID-19.

“I thought I was going to lose her. I didn’t know if I was going to die and she would be here all alone,” Arrington says.

Both mother and daughter were in the hospital – Arrington for about a month. And her daughter Alana for six weeks. Their only connection was through video chat. Arrington says that this was especially painful because Alana was on a ventilator.

“To be honest, it was very terrifying, because I’ve never experienced anything like that before,” Alana says.

And just as she was getting better from the virus, Alana’s fever spiked, leading to Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children or MISC. MISC affects major organs. But it is rare, with only 57 known cases in New Jersey.

“One of the things that we learned about this illness and that we’re continuing to learn is that it remains rare,” says Hackensack University Medical Center Dr. Katharine Clouser.

It is still rare for children under 18 to get the coronavirus. It is less than 5% of all cases in New Jersey.

Clouser was one of Alana's doctors. She says it's not clear if COVID effects kids less than adults. Because kids haven't been in school.

"I think as they get back to school what we're hoping to learn is are they able to transmit it. This real a worry. And are they going to be these super-spreaders we thought they were going to be,” Clouser says.

Arrington and her daughter have now been recovering for a couple of months.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports about 800 cases of MISC nationwide, with about 70% of cases impacting Black and Hispanic children.