At least 97,000 children in the United States tested positive for the novel coronavirus during the final two weeks of July, a new report from the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children’s Hospital Association found.
The report was released as lawmakers and health experts around the nation grapple with questions about whether to reopen schools, which were shuttered in the spring when the coronavirus first began spreading throughout the country. Some Trump administration officials have aggressively pushed for a resumption of in-person classes, while others have voiced fears about how equipped schools are to handle potential outbreaks.
Roughly 338,000 children in the U.S. have tested positive for COVID-19 since the beginning of the pandemic, according to the report, which includes public data from 49 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and Guam. The report noted that Texas only provided age distribution for a small proportion of cases.
Between July 16 and July 30, a total of 97,078 children tested positive for the virus, marking a 40 percent increase in child cases, researchers found. About 7 in 10 cases over that period were reported in states in the South.
What Are Your Thoughts?
