Study shows COVID-19 cases surging among California children and teens

Students, teachers and parents visit a classroom at Mount St. Mary’s Academy, a private Catholic grade school in Grass Valley, Calif. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times)

by: Los Angeles Times

Posted: Aug 10, 2020 / 05:42 PM PDT

Updated: Aug 10, 2020 / 05:42 PM PDT

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Coronavirus cases among children and teenagers are surging in California, up 150% last month, a rate that outpaces COVID-19 cases overall and establishes minors as a small but growing share of the state’s COVID-19 cases.

The increase also appears to outpace the number of coronavirus cases among children nationally, which grew 40% in the second half of July, according to a study by the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children’s Hospital Assn.

Nationally, children with COVID-19 represented about 8.8% of all U.S. cases at the end of July, compared to 9% in California, the analysis found.

That number is continuing to climb, with more than 50,000 cases among children and teenagers in California this week, representing about 9.5% of total cases, according to data from the California Department of Public Health. The number is still dwarfed by new cases among adults ages 18 to 50, who represent the majority of cases statewide.

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