US reports over 3 mln child COVID-19 cases

WASHINGTON - Over 3 million children in the United States have tested positive for COVID-19 since the onset of the pandemic, according to a latest report of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the Children's Hospital Association.

A total of 3,033,370 child COVID-19 cases had been reported across the country, and children represented 13 percent of all confirmed cases, according to the report.

The overall rate was 4,030 cases per 100,000 children in the population.

Over the two weeks from Jan 28 to Feb 11, there were 216,595 new child COVID-19 cases reported across the country, an 8 percent increase, according to the AAP.

Children accounted for 1.2 percent to 2.9 percent of total reported hospitalizations, and 0 to 0.25 percent of all COVID-19 deaths, said the report.

"At this time, it appears that severe illness due to COVID-19 is rare among children. However, 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 AAP said in the report.