Washington, Oct 19 (IANS): Over 14.8 million children in the US have tested positive for Covid-19 since the onset of the pandemic in early 2020, according to the latest report by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the Children's Hospital Association.

Nearly 163,000 of these cases have been added in the past four weeks, Xinhua news agency quoted the report as saying on Tuesday.

For the week ending October 13, nearly 28,000 child Covid-19 cases were reported, a decrease from the previous week.

This marked the first time reported weekly child cases have dropped below 30,000 since early April, according to the report.

There is a 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.

"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," said the Academy.