Nearly 13 million US children infected with Covid-19

Los Angeles, May 4: Almost 13 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.

Over 149,000 of these Covid-19 cases in the United States were added in the past four weeks. Over five million reported cases were added in 2022, according to the report published late Monday. Children represented 19 per cent of all Covid-19 cases in the country, the report showed. Over 53,000 cases in children were reported in the week ending April 28, an increase of over 60 per cent from two weeks ago. This marked the third consecutive weekly increase in reported child cases, according to the AAP. Also Read | India reports 3,205 new Covid-19 cases, 31 more deaths 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 recognise 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. On the other hand, America's daily Covid cases have now hit their highest level in two months with the even more transmissible sub-variant of Omicron now behind two in five cases. Figures from states, counties and local health officials showed a total of 95,854 new infections were recorded over the last 24 hours. This was the biggest daily count since late February at the tail-end of the Omicron wave, and marked a 60 per cent uptick two weeks ago. A total of 11 states are now seeing cases double every 14 days, while just two — Oklahoma and Arizona — continue to register a drop in infections. Also Read | Chandigarh revokes its decision restricting unvaccinated students from attending classes -PTC News