Coronavirus News: Children with COVID-19 hits second highest mark on record

NEW YORK (WABC) -- The U.S. continues to see a concerning surge in children with COVID-19 as schools reopen and students head back to class.

In a newly released weekly report, which compiles state-by-state data on COVID-19 cases among children, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the Children's Hospital Association (CHA) found that just under 204,000 new child COVID-19 cases were reported last week, marking the second highest week on record.

After declining throughout the early summer, new child cases have increased "exponentially," the organizations said, with over a five-fold increase the past month, rising from about 38,000 cases the week ending July 22 -- a 427% increase in the weekly rate.

Since the onset of the pandemic, nearly 4.8 million children have tested positive for COVID-19. Last week, children represented 22.4% of all reported COVID-19 cases.

WATCH | Dr. Jen Ashton on COVID cases amongst children

Dr. Jen Ashton discusses the rise in new COVID cases among children.

At this time, severe illness due to COVID-19 remains "uncommon" among children, the two organizations wrote in the report.

According to the nearly two dozen states, which reported pediatric hospitalizations, 0.1%-1.9% of all child COVID-19 cases resulted in hospitalization. Similarly, in states which reported virus-related deaths by age, 0.00%-0.03% of all child COVID-19 cases resulted in death.

In the New York, New Jersey and Connecticut area, the latest data from White House COVID-19 Team shows hospitalizations among people under age 17 have been on the increase since mid-July.

As of August 28, they had returned to levels not seen since May, but still below the peaks in April and last September.

New York City COVID-19 Vaccine Tracker

New Jersey COVID-19 Vaccine Tracker

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on coronavirus

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