[ad_1]
Childhood COVID-19 cases increased 84% in the past week, with 72,000 children testing positive for the virus, a new study from the American Academy of Pediatrics [AAP] reported Wednesday.
The new infections were recorded in the seven days leading up to July 29, up from 39,000 the week before, according to the AAP report.
The AAP said it has partnered with Children’s Hospitals of America to help collect and share data on pediatric cases of the virus, which represent only 14.3% of total cumulative cases, according to the study. This share rose to 19% for the week ending July 29. Since the start of the pandemic, 4.2 million children have tested positive for the virus.
GOVERNMENT OF FLORIDA. DESANTIS SIGNS AN EXECUTIVE ORDER MAKING THE MASKS OPTIONAL IN SCHOOLS
“It’s high and considering the fact that we are vaccinated now, what that tells us is that unvaccinated people are infected in greater numbers because the virus is more infectious with the Delta variant,” said said Dr Yvonne Maldonado, head of the infectious disease division. at Stanford Medicine’s pediatrics department and chairman of the AAP committee on infectious diseases, told CNN.
“Our feeling is that because children cannot be vaccinated, parents should clearly be vaccinated themselves, and if their children are 12 years and older, they should also be vaccinated,” said Maldonado.
The statistics are of particular concern with millions of children expected to return to classrooms across the country within the next month. In Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis has banned school boards from imposing mask requirements in schools, even as cases increase in his state.
Meanwhile, Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson said on Wednesday he regretted passing a similar mask ban in his state as cases swell there. The governor now wants to change the law to give schools the flexibility to adopt their own mask requirements.
THE ORIENTATION OF THE MASK IN THE MIDDLE OF THE INCREASE OF THE DELTA VARIANT DIVIDES PARENTS AT THE ENTRY OF THE NEW SCHOOL YEAR
The study notes that “it appears that serious illness from COVID-19 is rare in children.” The AAP said there was an “urgent need” to learn more about the long-term effects of the pandemic on the physical, mental and emotional health of children.
Among the 23 states and New York City examined by the AAP, child hospitalizations accounted for 1.3 to 3.5% of all COVID-19-related hospitalizations for the week ending July 29.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
According to the study, children accounted for 0.00 to 0.26% of all deaths from COVID-19, and seven states reported zero child deaths among data from 43 states, New York, Puerto Rico and Guam , with 0.00 to 0.03% of all children COVID- 19 cases resulting in death in these areas.
A total of 526 children have died from the virus, according to the CDC, and an estimated 10.9 million children between the ages of 12 and 17 have been vaccinated with at least one dose of the vaccine, according to CDC data.
This story first appeared in the New York Post.
[ad_2]
Source link