Number of children with COVID-19 rising

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• At least 97,000 children in the US tested positive for COVID-19 during the final two weeks of July.
• The report came while lawmakers and health experts across the country were torn about whether to reopen schools this fall.
• Since the beginning of the pandemic, about 338,000 children in the U.S. have tested positive for the virus

At least 97,000 children in the U.S. tested positive for COVID-19 in the last two weeks of July, making the decision harder to reopen schools this fall, according to a new report.

The American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children’s Hospital Association included data from 49 states, Washington D.C., Puerto Rico and Guam. The report however failed to include complete data from Texas — where cases are spiking — or parts of New York, meaning the number of positive cases could be higher.

Health officials have previously said that the true coronavirus tally may be much higher than reported due to insufficient testing and the lack of symptoms in a lot of people who are infected.

The U.S. has surpassed 5 million confirmed cases of the coronavirus. More than 338,000 of those cases were children. The results from the last weeks of July show that one-fourth of all of the confirmed infections in kids happened during that two-week period, even though the pandemic has been raging since March. 

Note: Those defined as children in the study usually are younger than 19, although some states included people up to age 24.

The data add to the increasing concern for parents and students as the start of the school year nears. Many schools and colleges have said they will operate remotely or with an in-person and online hybrid. But other districts have faced pressure from to reopen as soon as possible, including from President Donald Trump.

Some schools have already offered in-person classes. A high school in Georgia sparked controversy last week after photos showed dozens of students crowding a hallway between classes, many without masks. The school announced it would move temporarily online on Sunday after officials said nine people had tested positive for COVID-19.

In New York, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced that schools across the state would be allowed to reopen in the fall based on individual regions’ infection rates.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s latest Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report said evidence shows children are at lower risk from developing severe cases of COVID-19. But the agency warned that a coronavirus-repeated condition known as multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children disproportionately impacted Black and Hispanic children.

Source: AOL.Com