Nearly 350,000 cases of COVID-19 in children have been reported in the United States in the past four weeks, according to the latest report by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the Children's Hospital Association. 

About 86,600 child COVID-19 cases were reported for the week ending August 25, an increase of 9 percent from the week prior, according to the report published on Monday. 

Over 14.4 million children have been reported to have tested positive for COVID-19 since the onset of the pandemic, according to the report. Approximately 6.6 million reported cases have been added in 2022. 

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. 

"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.