U.S. adds 34K COVID-19 cases; children make up 10% of total

Sept. 15 (UPI) -- An additional 34,000 COVID-19 cases and hundreds of new deaths were reported in the United States on Tuesday.

Data from Johns Hopkins University's Center for Systems Science and Engineering showed about 34,100 new cases on Monday and 422 deaths, a slight increase from Sunday's toll.

The new cases are close to the daily average (35,000) nationally over the past week.

Since the start of the pandemic, there have been 6.55 million cases and 194,500 deaths in the United States, according to Johns Hopkins.

Along with the new cases Monday, scientists at the American Academy of Pediatrics and Children's Hospital Association reported that almost 550,000 children have tested positive to date, or about 10% of all U.S. cases.

Despite surges in cases, the groups noted that severe illness and death are still "rare among children" but appealed for consistent data from states to measure and document the effects of the disease on American children.

Nationwide, there have been a little more than 700 cases per 100,000 children, they said. The figure is more than double that rate in two states -- Tennessee and South Carolina -- and 19 others report more than 800 per 100,000.

A separate study Monday showed that over a three-month period, researchers found that adults are nearly 10 times more likely than children to be asymptomatic carriers of the virus.

Meanwhile, in North Carolina, officials said thousands of residents had erroneously received text messages and emails informing them they'd tested positive for the coronavirus.

Thousands in Mecklenburg County, which includes Charlotte, received the messages last week.

County Manager Dena Diorio said messages were sent through a contractor that had been hired to help with contact tracing efforts. The messages, he told county commissioners, were sent to those who may have tested positive earlier and had likely already recovered -- or those believed to have had close contact with a carrier.

In Nevada, the city of Henderson has fined a manufacturing company that hosted a rally for President Donald Trump on Sunday that violated Gov. Steve Sisolak's order limiting public gatherings.

"During the event, a compliance officer observed six violations of the directives and the city's Business Operations Division has issued a Business License Notice of Violation to Xtreme Manufacturing and assessed a penalty of $3,000," city officials tweeted.

The event was Trump's first indoor rally since June and was attended by many supporters who did not wear masks or keep socially distanced in accordance with health guidelines.