Nearly 252,000 children have tested positive for COVID-19 in the last week, according to a new report from the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children’s Hospital Association, as schools reopen for in-person learning and the delta variant spreads across the United States.
In contrast, a weekly survey from June revealed roughly 8,400 incidents among young people.
According to the CDC, Southern states account for more than half of all new pediatric cases.
According to ABC News, more students have been hospitalized in Texas than in any other state since Gov. Greg Abbott banned school mask laws.
Dr. James Versalovic, pathologist-in-chief at Texas Children’s Hospital, said, “We’re calling this the fourth wave … but it has certainly been by far the most impactful surge — really hitting children and adolescents.”
COVID-19 was reportedly contracted by an eleven-year-old in the state only a few days after returning to in-person learning. The girl was put on a ventilator, reported ABC.
Her mother, Terri Gurganious, said of her daughter, who is too young to receive the coronavirus vaccine, “Her lungs were going through hell. … They’ve been doing breathing treatments on her every four hours, and then they suction her lungs out at the same time.”
In their most recent weekly report, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children’s Hospital Association both stated that mortality and severe illness are “uncommon” among children.
The groups cautioned, however, that additional information on long-term effects is needed, “including ways the virus may harm the long-term physical health of infected children, as well as its emotional and mental health effects.”
Since the start of the pandemic, more than 5 million children have tested positive for the virus, with over 750,000 pediatric cases recorded by organizations last month.
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