The percentage of children infected by the coronavirus has risen sharply, both in sheer number and in the percentage of overall infections, the Associated Press reports.

Children of all ages account for 10% of coronavirus cases in the United States, with teenagers twice as likely to get it as younger children; in early August, children under 18 accounted for 7.3% of cases.  The spike in demographic cases is likely attributable to the reopening of schools to in-person classes and restarting sports in some areas.

The White House has claimed that the coronavirus holds little danger to children and that children are virtually immune to the virus.

“If you look at children, children are almost, I would almost say definitely, but almost immune from this disease. So few. Hard to believe,” President Trump claimed August 5th.  “I don’t know how you feel about it but they have much stronger immune systems than we do somehow for this. They don’t have a problem.”

The Trump Administration has claimed that opening schools would not pose a threat to children, their families or their schools’ staff.  Many schools that opened early had to close as coronavirus infections spread through the student body.

“While children generally don’t get as sick with the coronavirus as adults, they are not immune and there is much to learn about how easily they can transmit it to others,” Dr. Sally Goza, president of the American Academy of Pediatrics, said in a statement.