As children head back to the classroom for the academic year, new data shows that pediatric COVID-19 infection rates have increased for the second consecutive week. Last week, more than 90,600 additional child COVID-19 cases were reported, an increase of 14% from two weeks prior, when just under 80,000 cases were reported, according to a new report from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the Children’s Hospital Association (CHA).
The increase comes despite an overall plateauing of COVID-19 infections nationally. Overall, totals remain significantly lower than during other parts of the pandemic. Since mid-May, data shows that new cases have plateaued, fluctuating between a high of about 68,000 to 112,000 cases.
However, many Americans who are taking at-home tests are not submitting their results, and thus, experts say daily case totals are likely significantly higher than the numbers that are officially reported. More than 14.5 million children have tested positive for the virus since the onset of the pandemic, and since the beginning of 2022, approximately 6.65 million reported cases have been added. Children represent about a fifth of all reported cases on record.