SCHOOL SURGE

250,000+ U.S. Kids Tested Positive for COVID Last Week

It’s the biggest number of weekly U.S. cases in children since the pandemic began.

For the first time, more than a quarter of a million U.S. children have tested positive for the coronavirus inside the space of a week. The horrendous figure comes from the American Academy of Pediatrics, which tallied the number of pediatric coronavirus cases in the week ending Sept. 2. It’s the biggest weekly figure for confirmed cases in children since the pandemic began. Most cases in children are not severe, but The Washington Post reports that nearly 2,400 children were in hospitals with the coronavirus nationwide as of Tuesday. The Daily Beast reports on one heartbreaking case Wednesday: a 6-year-old Tennessee girl, Hattie Shell, struggling to breathe in hospital for a month. Doctors told mother Kady Shell that her child most likely had asymptomatic COVID-19 in the weeks or months before she was hospitalized. Kady wrote: “So after all of this, I encourage you to make educated choices about how you and your families will respond to this pandemic.” More than 5 million U.S. children have tested positive for COVID-19 since the pandemic began.