US reports nearly 30,000 weekly child Covid cases

Washington, Nov 9 (IANS) Nearly 30,000 child Covid-19 cases were reported in the US in just a week week, the second consecutive weekly increase, according to the latest report by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the Children's Hospital Association.

Over 14.9 million children in the country have tested positive for Covid-19 since the onset of the pandemic in early 2020, according to the report.

Nearly 105,000 of these cases have been added in the past four weeks, reports Xinhua news agency.

For the week ending November 3, the portion of child Covid cases was 13.2 per cent.

Reported cases are likely a "substantial undercount" of Covid-19 cases among children, said the report.

There is a 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," the Academy added.