Nearly 100,000 Kids Test Positive For Coronavirus In 2 Week-Span

ACROSS AMERICA — The number of children testing positive for the coronavirus continues to rise, with more than 97,000 youth infections reported during the last two weeks of July alone. An American Academy of Pediatrics and Children's Hospital Association report shared by the New York Times showed those numbers, which indicate more than a quarter of the positive case counts for children since the pandemic began came from that two-week span.

One school in Georgia in particular is struggling with the spread of the coronavirus. North Paulding High School, which made national news last week after a student shared images of a crowded hallway on social media, has been forced to close to in-person learning for at least Monday and Tuesday due to six students and three staff members testing positive.

This comes as the nation has surpassed the 5 million coronavirus case plateaux. That's more than a quarter of the number of cases reported worldwide, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

The United States is the first country to hit the 5 million total. Only two other countries, Brazil and India, has more than 1 million confirmed coronavirus cases.

The United States reached the milestone shortly after President Donald Trump signed a series of executive orders intended to ease the ongoing economic fallout caused by the coronavirus pandemic. The orders came after negotiations with Democrats on a new economic relief package collapsed at the end of last week.

Through the orders, Trump moved to extend supplemental federal unemployment benefits for millions of Americans out of work during the outbreak. Congress allowed those payments to lapse on Aug. 1, and negotiations to extend them were mired in partisan gridlock.

Benefits through Trump's order will be lowered from $600 to $400 per week.

The nation's largest state recently became the third to report 10,000 deaths when California reported at least 10,011 people have died of the coronavirus. Daily deaths there have steadily increased since early July, according to tracking by The Washington Post.

Only New York and New Jersey have reported more deaths since outbreaks began, with 29,813 and 15,860, respectively.

READ MORE:

• Trump Signs Executive Orders; Bypasses Congress On Virus Aid
• Last-Ditch Virus Aid Talks Collapse; No New Help For Jobless

---

Across the Pacific Ocean, the government in New Zealand is being lauded for its response to the worldwide virus outbreak and having recently gone 100 consecutive days without a single case of community transmission.

Back in the U.S., the virus is affecting children of color at disproportionate rates, according to two sobering government reports released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday.

One report looked at children with COVID-19 who needed hospitalization. Hispanic children were hospitalized at a rate eight times higher than white kids, and Black children were hospitalized at a rate five times higher, it found.

The second report examined cases of a rare virus-associated syndrome in kids. It found that nearly three-quarters of the children with the syndrome were either Hispanic or Black, well above their representation in the general population.

READ: CDC Reports Show Racial Disparities In Kids With Coronavirus

As of Sunday evening, the U.S. COVID-19 case count already surpassed 5 million while the death toll has gone above 162,000 people, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.

Follow live coronavirus updates at The New York Times or Washington Post.

Read More From Across America:

• Gov. Abbott Extends Coronavirus Disaster Declaration In Texas
  
• COVID-19 Vaccine Developer Has Promising Results From Early Trial
  
• Suspension Lifted For GA Student Who Tweeted Photo
  
• GA Coronavirus: Another Day, Another 4,000-Plus New Cases
  
• Florida Coronavirus Update: 6,229 New Cases
  
• Attorney: Coronavirus Cases At Tucson Prison Due To Conditions
  
• IL Breaks 2,000 New Coronavirus Cases For First Time Since May
  
• Illinois State Rep. Asks Judge To Jail Gov. Pritzker For Contempt
• Teachers File Suit Over Concerns About Reopening Florida Schools
  
• Paramount Theatre Delays Performances 1 Year Due To Coronavirus
• Key Metrics Show Drop In New Coronavirus Cases In Pennsylvania