Report: More than 1 million children have been infected with covid-19

More than 1 million children in the United States have been infected with covid-19, according to a report released by the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children’s Hospital Association.

The report, released on Monday, shows children now make up 11.5 percent of all cases in the country.

The total hit nearly 1.04 million infants, children and teens on Thursday, including nearly 112,000 new cases last week. That was the highest weekly total of any previous week in the pandemic, the academy said.

The report also finds more than 17 percent of all pediatric infections have been diagnosed within the last two weeks.

“As a pediatrician who has practiced medicine for over three decades, I find this number staggering and tragic,” said Dr. Sally Goza, president of the AAP. “We haven’t seen a virus flash through our communities in this way since before we had vaccines for measles and polio.”

This pandemic is taking a heavy toll on children, families & communities, as well as on physicians & other front-line medical teams. We need a new, nation-wide strategy, & that should include implementing proven public health measures like mask wearing & physical distancing. https://t.co/DfstTv7pvu

— Sara "Sally" H. Goza, M.D., FAAP, (@AAPPres) November 16, 2020

Pediatric cases are spreading broadly in the Midwest. Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin each have reported more than 25,000 cases of covid-19 since the pandemic began.

Goza called for “a new, nationwide strategy to control the pandemic,” which she said should include implementing “proven public health measures like mask wearing and physical distancing.”