Over 4 mln children in US infected with COVID-19

WASHINGTON -- Over 4 million children in the United States have tested positive for COVID-19 since the onset of the pandemic, according to a latest report of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the Children's Hospital Association.

As of July 15, almost 4.09 million children have been infected with COVID-19. After decreases in weekly reported cases over the past couple of months, the country began to see increases in cases in July, according to the report.

Over 23,500 child cases were reported in the week ending July 15, according to the report. Children represented 14.2 percent of all COVID-19 cases in the country.

Children accounted for 1.3 percent to 3.6 percent of total reported hospitalizations, and 0 to 0.26 percent of all COVID-19 deaths, said the report.

"At this time, it still appears that severe illness due to COVID-19 is rare among children. However, there is an urgent need to collect more data on longer-term impacts of the pandemic on children, including ways the virus may harm the long-term physical health of infected children, as well as its emotional and mental health effects," the AAP said in the report.