More than 2 million U.S. kids have been infected with COVID-19

More than 2 million children in the U.S. have tested positive for COVID-19, an uptick of a million cases from last month, according to two pediatrics groups.

Almost 179,000 new coronavirus illnesses in kids were reported last week, bumping up the number of child cases to 2,000,681. Coronavirus infections in kids make up 12.4% of all cases, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and Children’s Hospital Association said Tuesday.

Pulling from state health department data, the organizations found that about 2,658 per 100,000 children are getting infected with COVID-19. From Dec. 10 to Dec. 24, there were 360,953 new child coronavirus cases reported, a 22% increase in infections.

“At this time, it appears that severe illness due to COVID-19 is rare among children. 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 pediatrics groups said.

Although most cases are mild in kids, some children experience a rare but serious condition linked to the coronavirus known as multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C), which causes inflammation of different body parts such as the heart and lungs.

The AAP has said it believes the number of coronavirus cases among children is likely an undercount since kids’ symptoms are often mild and many might not get tested. COVID-19 has disproportionately affected Black and Hispanic children who are experiencing higher infection rates.

Data on testing, hospitalization and deaths for children with COVID-19 will be published in a report next week.