A child is carried into a COVID-19 vaccination site in Times Square, New York, the United States, on June 22, 2022. [Photo/Xinhua]
style="MARGIN: 0px 3px 15px">Over 15.5 million children in the United States are reported to have tested positive for COVID-19 since the onset of the pandemic, according to the latest report by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the Children's Hospital Association.
Over 66,000 of these cases have been added in the past 4 weeks, according to the report. Over 13,000 child COVID-19 cases were reported in the week ending March 23.
Over the past six months, weekly reported child cases in the United States have plateaued at an average of about 30,000 cases, according to the report.
Reported cases are likely a "substantial undercount" of COVID-19 cases among children, said the report.
There is a need to collect more age-specific data to assess the severity of illness related to new variants as well as potential longer-term effects, said the report.
It is important to recognize there are immediate effects of the pandemic on children's health, but importantly we need to identify and address the long-lasting impacts on the physical, mental, and social well-being of this generation of children and youth, said the AAP.
