LOS ANGELES - Over 6 million child COVID-19 cases have been reported in the United States in 2022, with nearly 287,000 cases added in the past four weeks, according to the latest report by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the Children's Hospital Association.

Child COVID-19 cases in the United States are far higher than one year ago. There is an urgent need to collect more age-specific data to assess the severity of illness related to new variants as well as potential longer-term effects, said the AAP in the report released on Monday.

"It is important to recognize there are immediate effects of the pandemic on children's health, but importantly we need to identify and address the long-lasting impacts on the physical, mental, and social well-being of this generation of children and youth," said the AAP.

Over 13.9 million children in the United States have tested positive for COVID-19 since the onset of the pandemic.