More than 97,000 children tested positive for the coronavirus during the last two weeks of July, a new report from the published by the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children's Hospital Association says.
The report notes a 40% increase in child cases between July 16 and July 30.
The report also found that up until the end of July there was a total of nearly 339,000 childhood COVID-19 cases reported representing 8.8% of all cases in the U.S.
For the study, researchers took state level data, but noted children were defined differently in each state. While most states reported child case numbers as anyone between the ages of 0 and 18, Alabama reported children as between the ages of 0 and 24. Also noted by researchers was the fact that New York only provided age distribution data for New York City and not the entire state.
The report comes as schools across the country wrestle with how to educate children while maintaining a healthy environment.
For most people, the new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks. For some — especially older adults and people with existing health problems — it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia, and death.
The United States had recorded more than 5 million cases of COVID-19 as of Monday at 1 p.m. ET, according to a Johns Hopkins University tracker, with over 163,000 deaths.
