Rise in Covid-19 cases reported among US children raises concerns over schools reopening

Almost 100,000 American children tested positive for Covid-19 in the last two weeks of July, raising concerns for many US schools which planned to reopen this month.

The US saw a 40 per cent increase in coronavirus cases among children at the end of last month according to a new report from the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children’s Hospital Association, which found that at least 97,000 children tested positive for coronavirus in the last two weeks of July.

The report, which used data from 49 states as well as Washington DC, Puerto Rico and Guam found that the increase was felt most acutely in the south and west of the US, which accounted for more than seven out of every 10 infections.

The report also suggested the true number of cases among children could in fact be higher as the study did not include complete data from Texas, which has seen one of the largest outbreaks in the country, as well as parts of New York State.

However the age range of the children differed by state, with some defining children as those up to age 14 and one state – Alabama – pushing the limit to 24.

The figures undercut Donald Trump’s claim that children are “almost immune” to the virus as he pushes for the country’s schools to reopen for in-person learning.

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