Los Angeles, Jul 19 (IANS): More than six million child Covid-19 cases have been reported in the US 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 US are far higher as compared to that in 2021. 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 recognise 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," the AAP added as quoted by Xinhua news agency report.

More than 13.9 million children in the US have tested positive for Covid-19 since the onset of the pandemic.