Nearly 72,000 children tested positive for COVID-19 last week, a “substantial” increase that troubles public health advocates amid the growing wave of infections linked to the highly transmissible delta variant of the virus.
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The American Academy of Pediatrics released the figures on Tuesday, noting they were a nearly 85% increase from a week earlier. Children — defined by individual states as those aged 17 or 18 and under ― now account for 19% of the nation’s weekly COVID-19 cases.
More than 4.2 million children have tested positive for the coronavirus since the pandemic began.
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