US reports over 3mn child Covid-19 cases

Washington, Feb 18 Over 3 million children in the US have tested positive for Covid-19 since the onset of the pandemic, according to a latest report of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the Children's Hospital Association.

A total of 3,033,370 child Covid-19 cases had been reported across the country, and children represented 13 per cent of all confirmed cases, according to the report.

The overall rate was 4,030 cases per 100,000 children in the population, the Xinhua news agency reported.

Over the two weeks from January 28 to February 11, there were 216,595 new child Covid-19 cases reported across the country, an 8 per cent increase, according to the AAP.

Children accounted for 1.2 per cent to 2.9 per cent of total reported hospitalisations, and 0 to 0.25 per cent of all Covid-19 deaths, said the report.

"At this time, it appears that severe illness due to Covid-19 is rare among children. However, there is an urgent need to collect more data on longer-term impacts of the pandemic on children, including ways the virus may harm the long-term physical health of infected children, as well as its emotional and mental health effects," the AAP said in the report.

( With inputs from IANS )