Nearly 800,000 Children in US Test Positive for COVID-19

Nearly 800,000 children in the United States have been diagnosed with COVID-19 since the onset of the pandemic, according to a new report of the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children's Hospital Association.

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A total of 94,555 new child cases were reported from Oct. 8 to Oct. 22, which was a 14 percent increase in child cases over two weeks, according to the report.

Altogether 792,188 child COVID-19 cases had been reported in the United States, and children represented 11 percent of all those infected, said the report.

The overall rate was 1,053 cases per 100,000 children in the population. Children accounted for 1 percent to 3.6 percent of total reported hospitalizations, and 0 to 0.23 percent of all COVID-19 deaths, according to the report.

A smaller subset of states reported on hospitalizations and mortality by age, but the available data indicated that COVID-19-associated hospitalization and death is uncommon in children, said the report.

"At this time, it appears that severe illness due to COVID-19 is rare among children. However, states should continue to provide detailed reports on COVID-19 cases, testing, hospitalizations, and mortality by age and race/ethnicity so that the effects of COVID-19 on children's health can be documented and monitored," said the report.