Nearly 12,000 Children in New England Have Tested Positive for COVID-19

A new report says that nearly 12,000 children in New England have tested positive for the coronavirus through July 30.

Massachusetts had the bulk of the childhood COVID cases, with 6,903, followed by Connecticut at 2,497 and Rhode Island with 1,616. New Hampshire, Maine and Vermont had fewer than 1,000 childhood coronavirus cases combined, according to the report from the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children's Hospital Association.

The report said only three children in New England have died of COVID-19 -- two in Connecticut and one in Maine. And fewer than 200 children from across New England were hospitalized as a result of complications from the virus.

State	Child population	Child cases	Percent children of total cases	Child hospitalizations	Child deaths
MA	1,558,231	6,903	5.9%	118	0
NH	291,038	442	6.8%	9	0
ME	281,158	352	9.1%	N/A	1
CT	735,193	2,497	5.0%	N/A	2
RI	238,453	1,616	9.0%	44	0
VT	134,415	155	11.0%	N/A	0
TOTAL	3,238,488	11,965	N/A	171	3

There is some troubling data included in the report, however, just weeks before children are scheduled to return to school. Nearly 100,000 children across the U.S. were diagnosed with the coronavirus in the last two weeks of July alone.

That data was not available at the state level.

States in the South and West accounted for over 70% of the infections in the report. Meanwhile, northeast states had the lowest percentage increase of child infections.

According to the New York Times, Missouri, Oklahoma, Alaska, Nevada, Idaho and Montana were among the states with the highest percentage increase of child infections.