Back-To-School Update: Nearly 252,000 Kids Test Positive For COVID As In-Person Classes Resume

With in-person classes resuming for much of the U.S., a record number of children have tested positive for COVID-19 every week since the start of the fall school year.

Nearly 252,000 kids were reported to have tested positive for the virus last week, which was the largest increase in pediatric cases since the pandemic started, according to the latest weekly report released from the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children’s Hospital Association, as reported by ABC News.

The findings show that more than 5 million children have tested positive for COVID-19, and in the month of August, there were 750,000 confirmed cases of children that had contracted COVID-19.

In comparison, in June, only 8,400 pediatric cases of the virus were reported over the course of a week, the report indicated.

More pediatric cases of COVID are being seen in the South with half of all new infections occurring in the region in children, data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicated, as reported by ABC News.

Pediatric hospital cases are also on the rise, up 600% since July 4 and up nearly 308% from a year earlier, according to federal data.

The news of the increase in COVID cases among children comes after numerous reports of schools temporarily shuttering as thousands of students were quarantined amid cases of the virus among students and staff.

There is also no vaccine for children under the age of 12, although Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy and Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s leading infectious disease expert, have said that one is expected to be authorized by the end of the year.

“I think it’s possible that we might see that process complete by the end of the calendar year, which would be wonderful for kids like mine and many kids out there who can’t get vaccinated,” Murthy told CNN in August.

Schools are also grappling with mask mandates. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has banned mask mandates in schools along with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis as cases of the virus spike among students. Both governors are Republicans.