COVID cases in children post highest weekly spike since start of pandemic
Editor’s note:For the latest news on COVID-19, visithttps://www.aappublications.org/news/2020/01/28/coronavirus.
Nearly 154,000 cases of COVID in children have been diagnosed in the past week, the highest weekly increase since the pandemic began.
The grim statistic follows recent news when positive pediatric cases exceeded the 1 million mark. As of Nov. 26, at least 1.3 million children now have received COVID diagnoses, according to new data from the AAP and the Children’s Hospital Association. The overall rate is 1,777 cases per 100,000 children in the population.
In addition, the data reflects a 29% increase in child COVID-19 cases in the two-week period from Nov. 12 to Nov. 26.
Age distribution of cases is based on health department websites of 49 states, New York City, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and Guam. Children made up 12% of all cases, and there has been high growth the past month in all geographic regions.
Public health experts have expressed concerns about a coming surge following Thanksgiving holiday gatherings.
The AAP is holding biweekly virtual town halls with leading experts to discuss critical issues related to the pandemic. Pediatricians can tune in to the next town hall session at 7 p.m. CST on Dec. 3. Infectious diseases experts Amanda Cohn, M.D., FAAP, executive secretariat of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Jim Campbell, M.S., M.D., FAAP, member of the AAP Committee on Infectious Diseases, will discuss COVID-19 vaccines. Register for the town hall here, and view previous sessions here.
