WASHINGTON,   (Xinhua) -- Over 850,000 children in the United States have been diagnosed with COVID-19 since the onset of the pandemic, according to a new report of the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children's Hospital Association.

A total of 61,447 new child cases were reported last week from Oct. 22 to 29, which is the highest since the pandemic began, according to the report.

In October, nearly 200,000 new child COVID-19 cases were reported in the country. Altogether 853,635 child COVID-19 cases had been reported in the United States so far, and children represented 11.1 percent of all those infected, said the report.

The overall rate was 1,134 cases per 100,000 children in the population, according to the report.

Children accounted for 1 percent to 3.5 percent of total reported hospitalizations, and 0 to 0.2 percent of all COVID-19 deaths, said the report.

"At this time, it appears that severe illness due to COVID-19 is rare among children. However, there is an urgent need to collect more data on longer-term impacts on children, including ways the virus may harm the long-term physical health of infected children, as well as its emotional and mental health effects," said the report.   ■