Weekly COVID-19 cases among children rose to 141,000 – a nearly 14% increase from the week prior

COVID-19 cases among children in the U.S. are continuing to rise as the country heads into Thanksgiving.

More than 141,000 American kids and teenagers tested positive for the virus last week, according to a new report from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP).

The figure represents a 14 percent increase from the roughly 122,000 under-18s who contracted Covid the week prior and the third week in a row of rising cases.

This brings the total of pediatric coronavirus cases to more than 6.7 million since the start of the pandemic.   

Children also accounted for 16.9 percent of all U.S. cases recorded last week.

However, most pediatric cases are not severe and virus-related fatalities among children are rare, with pediatric deaths making up just 0.1 percent of all COVID-19 deaths in America.  

Because of kids’ low risk of severe disease and death, parents are split 50/50 on whether or not to vaccinate kids. 

More than 141,000 COVID-19 cases were recorded among children and teens last week, a 13.8% jump from the 122,000 cases recorded the week before (above)

Under-18s accounted for 16.9% of all U.S. cases recorded last week with a total of 6.7 million since the pandemic began. Pictured: Penny Brown, 2, is held by her mother as her nose is swabbed during a test for COVID-19 at Seattle’s Chief Sealth High School, August 2020

According to the AAP report, 141,905 child COVID-19 cases were reported between November 11 and November 18.

This is a 13.8 percent rise from the 122,229 cases that were recorded from November 4 to November 11. 

Currently, there are 12 states that report 20 percent or more of their cumulative cases are among children: Vermont, Alaska, South Carolina, West Virginia Tennessee, Maine, New Hampshire, Minnesota, New Mexico, Kentucky Washington and North Dakota.

Vermont has the most with about 25 percent of all the state’s cases among its youngest residents. 

No state is reporting fewer than 10 percent of cases among children and Florida has the fewest with just over 12 percent of its infections among kids.

There are 12 states that report 20% or more of their cumulative cases are among children: Vermont, Alaska, South Carolina, West Virginia Tennessee, Maine, New Hampshire, Minnesota, New Mexico, Kentucky Washington and North Dakota

Additionally, over the last two weeks, eight states have an increase of at least seven percent increase in child cases: Maine, Minnesota, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Vermont and Wisconsin.

When it come to regions across the country, the Midwest has the most child cases with about 60,000 reported in one week.

On the other hand, the South had the fewest number of cases with about 30,000.

Children never made up more than 0.25 percent of deaths in a state and six states states reported zero child deaths.

In total, 636 children have died from COVID-19 since the pandemic began, according to the report.

‘At this time, it appears that severe illness due to COVID-19 is uncommon among children,’ the authors wrote.

‘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 Midwest has the most child Covid cases with more than 60,000 reported while the South had the fewest with about 30,000 (above)

American parents are split 50/50 on whether or not they will immunize their children.   

Recent survey data published last month from the Kaiser Family Foundation found 27 percent of parents with kids aged five to 11 say that their children will get vaccinated as soon as it’s available.

Meanwhile, 33 percent say they will ‘wait and see’ how the vaccine is working before deciding whether or not to immunize their kids. 

Another five percent of parents say they will only get their children vaccinated if it is required by their schools and 30 percent say they will not get their kids vaccinated at all