Coronavirus: Children account for 1 in 11 COVID-19 cases nationwide

One in every 11 COVID-19 cases nationwide has been diagnosed in a child, according to a report released Monday by the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children’s Hospital Association.

To date, more than 1 million children have tested positive for the novel coronavirus, a figure the academy’s president called “staggering and tragic.”

“We haven’t seen a virus flash through our communities in this way since before we had vaccines for measles and polio,” AAP President Sally Goza said in a prepared statement, noting she has been a practicing pediatrician for more than 30 years.

The data, compiled from state reports, indicate 1,039,464 children tested positive for the virus as of Nov. 12, the very day the largest one-week increase of 112,000 new cases was reported among the demographic, NPR reported.

According to USA Today, the number of U.S. infants, children and teenagers diagnosed with COVID-19 accounts for 11.5% of all cases in states reporting cases by age.

“This pandemic is taking a heavy toll on children, families & communities, as well as on physicians & other front-line medical teams,” Goza wrote on Twitter, adding, “We need a new, nation-wide strategy, & that should include implementing proven public health measures like mask wearing & physical distancing.”

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Cox Media Group