Kids' COVID-19 cases rise in US as Shanghai eases restrictions

Though US COVID-19 pediatric cases have dropped significantly since the Omicron surge seen in the winter months—when weekly infections topped more than 1 million—the latest update from the American Academy of Pediatrics shows that more than 53,000 child COVID-19 cases were reported for the week ending Apr 28, an increase of about 61% from 2 weeks ago.This is the third consecutive week of case increases for children.

Since the pandemic began, at least 13 million US children have had COVID-19, with 5 million of those infections occurring in 2022.Last week the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published new data showing that 75% of US children under the age of 18 years have antibodies indicative of a previous COVID-19 infection, and roughly 30% of those infection occurred during the Omicron surge.The United States reported 81,644 new COVID-19 cases yesterday and 266 deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins COVID-19 tracker.

The 7-day average of new daily COVID-19 cases is 60,953, with 331 daily deaths, according to the New York Times tracker.In total, the nation has tracked 81,479,439 COVID-19 cases, including 994,236 deaths.Shanghai begins to end lockdownGlobally, some of the stricter lockdown measures are easing in Shanghai, China's most populous city, with restrictions lessening in 5 of its 16 districts.

Residents there have been in a tightly controlled lockdown for weeks as the country attempts to maintain a zero-COVID policy.Reuters reports that some residents were briefly allowed to leave their homes for walks and to buy groceries.Elsewhere in China, the city of Zhengzhou—population 12.5 million—was put on a week-long restriction, and Beijing officials announced they will keep schools closed another week after