More than a quarter of recent COVID-19 cases occurred in children — right on the cusp of the new school year in many places, according to new data.
The American Academy of Pediatrics reported more than 250,000 child cases for the first time during the week ending Sept. 2.
From Aug. 19 to Sept. 2, there was a 10% cumulative increase in child cases since the pandemic began, underscoring the surge of late as the country deals with the fast-moving delta variant of the coronavirus.
“After declining in early summer, child cases have increased exponentially, with over 750,000 cases added between August 5 and September 2,” the academy said in its report.
The cases are tending to be less severe. Children accounted for 1.6%-4.1% of all hospitalizations in the 24 states that report to the academy, and 0.1%-1.9% of all child COVID-19 cases resulting in hospitalization.
But the surge is challenging efforts by the Biden administration and governors to reopen schools safely. Federal officials insist it can be done under the right conditions.
“We’ve got to get the school system masked in addition to surrounding the children with vaccinated people. That’s the solution,” Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told CNN on Tuesday.
President Biden is expected to give a major address Thursday on the way forward in the pandemic. The White House hasn’t given many details, but it is widely reporting the address will focus on schools, vaccine mandates by private employers and within the federal government, and testing protocols.
The pace of vaccination has picked up in recent weeks, amid fears of the delta variant and employer requirements, though it is slow going and only 53% of the U.S. population is fully vaccinated. However, about 63% have received an initial dose, and most complete their vaccination course.
It is unclear whether Mr. Biden will again criticize governors that have resisted his entreaties to mandate masks and other rules in schools.
Some governors in GOP states say it should be up to parents to decide whether to cover their children’s faces, and protests over masks have erupted in school districts across the country.
A photo of a student in Hinesburg, Vermont, flipping off anti-mask protesters from her school bus went viral in recent days.
