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(Journalist)
– The United States just saw its largest weekly increase in coronavirus cases in children. There were 144,145 new cases among children 17 and under from Nov. 12 to 19 – “by far the largest weekly increase since the start of the pandemic,” the American Academy of Pediatrics said Monday. This total marks a 28% increase from the previous week ending November 12, which saw 112,000 new cases of COVID-19 in children and also broke records, per Smithsonian. Nearly 1.2 million American children had tested positive as of Nov. 19, representing 11.8% “of all cases in states reporting cases by age,” said the AAP, which analyzed the data from 49 states, New York City, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and Guam. Hospitalizations and child deaths remain rare. Yet the AAP urges health authorities to include children in vaccine trials.
“If we don’t add children to these research trials very soon, there will be a significant delay before children can access potentially life-saving vaccines. This is unacceptable, ”AAP President Sally Goza said in a statement. “Children are not little adults,” adds Yvonne Maldonado, chair of the AAP Committee on Infectious Diseases. “We need to have studies showing that they are also safe and effective in children.” It comes as experts predict an increase in the number of cases with more than 3 million people venturing through checkpoints at U.S. airports over the weekend. “These people infect each other and they will infect the people they spend Thanksgiving with,” Dr. William Haseltine, president of ACCESS Health International, told CNN. He predicts “a huge increase in what is already a horrific spike” of cases within a week or two. (Read more stories about coronaviruses.)
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