WASHINGTON (Xinhua) – A study released by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) indicates that the majority of children in the United States have been infected with COVID-19, The Washington Post reported.
More than 140 million Americans have had the coronavirus, according to the CDC estimates from blood tests that reveal antibodies from infection.
The estimates show that about 43 percent of Americans have been infected by the virus, the newspaper said in a recent report.
Infection rates are much higher for children and younger adults, the study found. It estimated that 58 percent of children up to age 11 have antibodies from natural infection, along with the same share of children ages 12 to 17, said the report.
Meanwhile, according to the latest data from the CDC, cases of a highly transmissible Omicron subvariant are doubling in the United States every week, The BA.2 variant was responsible for 8.3 percent of coronavirus infections in the country in the week ending Feb. 26, according to the CDC estimates.
The data was up from 4.4 percent the week prior, and 2 percent two weeks before.
Health experts have raised concerns that the relaxation of mitigation measures like mask and vaccination mandates in most of the country may lead to rise in cases and hospitalizations, and give the subvariant an extra advantage as it spreads in the country.