Nearly 2K Georgia children testing positive for COVID-19 a day on average

ATLANTA — Nearly 2,000 Georgia children are being diagnosed with COVID-19 a day, according to new data from the Georgia Department of Health.

The state reported 16,915 new cases of the virus over the weekend and 71 new deaths.

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The GDH does not break down new daily cases by age group, but the current seven-day average of cases in children ages 0 -17 is 1,823. Of those, children ages 10 -17 are seeing the highest numbers of new cases, with a seven-day-average of 1,101 per day testing positive for the virus.

Children ages 12 and older can get vaccinated against COVID-19. Just 17% of children 10 and older have been vaccinated in Georgia, compared to nearly 40% of children who are ages 14 to 19.

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School districts in metro Atlanta are reporting that over 13,000 children and teens have tested positive for COVID-19 since the start of the school year.

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The U.S. reported 180,176 new cases of COVID-19 among children in the past week, according to a new report released by the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children’s Hospital Association. There has been over a fourfold increase in new cases among children in the last month.

Cases among children still appear to be relatively mild, despite the highly-contagious nature of the delta variant. Just .2% - 1.9% of children with the virus end up needing hospitalization. Just .03% of child COVID-19 cases ended in death.

“At this time, it appears that severe illness due to COVID-19 is uncommon among children,” researchers 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.”

Of the 136,053 children who have been diagnosed with COVID-19 in Georgia since the start of the pandemic, 12 have died.

Clayton County parents concerned after children exposed to students positive for COVID-19 The district is also having supply chain issues getting food.

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