Over 14 million children in the United States have tested positive for COVID-19 since the onset of the pandemic, according to the latest report by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the Children's Hospital Association, Trend reports citing Xinhua.
Over 92,000 child COVID-19 cases were reported for the week ending July 21, the second consecutive weekly increase of reported cases, according to the report.
Over 311,000 child COVID-19 cases have been added in the past 4 weeks. Approximately 6.1 million reported cases have been added in 2022.
There is an urgent need to collect more age-specific data to assess the severity of illness related to new variants as well as potential longer-term effects, said the AAP.
"It is important to recognize there are immediate effects of the pandemic on children's health, but importantly we need to identify and address the long-lasting impacts on the physical, mental, and social well-being of this generation of children and youth," said the AAP.