More than 12 million children in the United States have been infected with COVID-19

Washington, February 8 (Xinhua) -- According to the latest report released by the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Association of Children's Hospitals on the 7th, since the outbreak of the new crown epidemic, more than 12 million children in the United States have been confirmed to be infected with the new crown virus.

Pictured is September 3, 2020, in Los Angeles, USA, children's centralized online classes. Xinhua News Agency

The report said that since the beginning of this year, the mutant new coronavirus Olmikeron strain has accelerated in the United States, resulting in a surge in the number of confirmed cases of new crown in American children. Since the beginning of January, there have been nearly 4.2 million new confirmed cases of COVID-19 among children in the United States. More than 1.4 million new cases of child infections have been reported across the United States in the past two weeks.

The report shows that in the week ended February 3, there were nearly 632,000 new confirmed cases of covid-19 in children in the United States, and although the number of new child cases in a single week decreased from the peak level of about 1.15 million cases in the week ending January 20, it was still "extremely high", more than twice the peak number of confirmed cases in children in a single week caused by the Delta strain in 2021.

The report also shows that the number of new confirmed cases of covid-19 in children in the United States has exceeded 100,000 for 26 consecutive weeks. Since the first week of September 2021, the cumulative number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in U.S. children has increased by nearly 7 million.

The age of a child varies from country to country, with most states setting the age of a child from 0 to 19 years. The American Academy of Pediatrics said there is an urgent need to collect more data on the outbreak at all ages to assess the severity of the disease caused by the mutation of the new crown virus and the long-term potential impact on children's health. It is necessary not only to understand the direct impact of the epidemic on children's health, but also to study and respond to the long-term impact of the epidemic on the physical and mental health and social activities of children and young people.