COVID-19 cases in children top 500,000 throughout the U.S.

PASCO COUNTY, Fla. (WFLA) -A new study shows how many young people in the United States have COVID 19.

A new joint report from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the Children’s Hospital Association shows more than 513,415 children have tested positive for COVID-19.

The report also indicates 70,630 have tested positive in the past two weeks, a 16% increase in child cases from the previous two weeks. according to the report.

This comes as children of course, head back to the classroom for in-person learning.

School districts in the Tampa Bay area are keeping close eyes on cases locally. Most have launched COVID-19 dashboards with updates of cases and their impacts. But it begs the questions, at what point do districts go back to only E-learning.

It’s not an easy answer.

“So it’s just hard to say. You can’t just look at a bottom line number or really at any given point,” said Pasco Superintendent Kurt Browning.

In Pasco County, they’ve seen pretty sharp increases in students and instructors impacted by COVID-19, specifically at Zephyrhills High School. Their dashboard recently showed 67 students have been impacted so far this school year.

With some teachers out, other staff members are at the high school in the classrooms, while teachers instruct in-person classes, from their home.

“I think we have 8 staff members from the district office out at Zephyrhills High School today, watching over classrooms while teachers remote in. our goal is to keep teachers in school as well as keep kids in school,” Browning said.

Pasco’s school dashboard shows, 35 students cases, 11 staff cases, 797 students impacted and 77 staff impacted.

The joint report indicates, children represent nearly 10% of all reported cases in the U.S.