Children now represent more than a quarter — or 26.8% — of weekly Covid-19 cases nationwide, according to data released Tuesday from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP).
The update comes as schools across the US have been in session or are getting into full swing. Experts have encouraged adults to get vaccinated to protect young children returning to the classroom.”If we want to protect the children, particularly those who are not yet eligible for vaccination, you want to surround the children with people who are vaccinated — teachers, school personnel, everyone else,”
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said Tuesday.Some 251,781 child cases of Covid-19 were reported in the past week (August 26-September 2). That number represents more than a quarter of the 939,470 cases total that were reported over that period.
In each of the previous two weeks, children represented about 22% of the weekly reported cases. The definition of a child varies by state but generally includes those up to age 17 or 18.
“After declining in early summer, child cases have increased exponentially, with over 750,000 cases added between August 5 and September 2,” the AAP’s data said. Despite the alarming rise in cases, it still appears that severe illness due to Covid-19 is uncommon among children at this time, according to AAP. “There is an urgent need to collect more data on longer-term impacts of the pandemic on children, including ways the virus may harm the long-term physical health of infected children, as well as its emotional and mental health effects,” the academy said.So far, more than 5 million children total have tested positive for Covid-19 since the start of the pandemic, representing 15.1% of all cases in the United States.
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Source: CNN Health
