In this file photo taken on Nov 02, 2021, a six year old child receives the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine for 5-11 year old kids at Hartford Hospital in Hartford, Connecticut on Nov 2, 2021. (JOSEPH PREZIOSO / AFP)

LOS ANGELES / NAIROBI / HAVANA / PARIS - More than 112,000 child COVID-19 cases were reported in the United States during the past week, a doubling of case counts from the four weeks prior, according to the latest report by the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children's Hospital Association.

Almost 13.4 million children have tested positive for COVID-19 since the onset of the pandemic in the country, and almost 376,000 of these cases have been added in the past four weeks, according to the report by the American Academy of Pediatrics 

It marks the seventh consecutive weekly increase in child COVID-19 cases in the United States, said the report published on Tuesday.

Almost 13.4 million children have tested positive for COVID-19 since the onset of the pandemic in the country, and almost 376,000 of these cases have been added in the past four weeks, according to the report.

Nearly 5.5 million child COVID-19 cases have been added nationwide so far in 2022.

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Children represent 18.9 percent of all COVID-19 cases in the United States, according to the report.

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," it said. 

Meanwhile, COVID-19 survivors have twice the risk of developing dangerous blood clots in their lungs compared to people who weren't infected and double the chance of respiratory symptoms, France 24 has reported.

Research by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that as many as one in five adults aged 18-64 years and one in four of those over 65 went on to experience health conditions that could be related to their bout of COVID-19, reported the state-owned international news network, citing an AFP report last week.

Among all conditions, the risk of developing acute pulmonary embolism, a clot in an artery of the lung, increased the most, by a factor of two in both adults younger and older than 65, as did respiratory symptoms like chronic cough or shortness of breath, the study showed.

The study was based on more than 350,000 patient records of people who had COVID-19 from March 2020 to November 2021, according to France 24.

Men on a trycicle ride past a graffiti of the Cuban flag in Havana, on May 31, 2022. Cuba eliminated the mandatory use of facemasks as of this Tuesday, a measure that was imposed two years ago against the spread of COVID-19. (YAMIL LAGE / AFP)

Cuba

Cuba on Tuesday lifted a mask mandate in place for two years following a successful vaccination drive that health officials say has contributed to a sharp drop in cases and nearly three weeks without a single death from COVID-19.

The island, whose government has long sought to stand out by providing a free healthcare system that focuses on preventative treatment such as vaccinations, developed its own COVID-19 vaccines and became the first country in the world to begin the mass vaccination of kids as young as age 2.

Cuba has since vaccinated 94 percent of its population with at least one dose of its home-grown vaccines, according to a Reuters tally.

Health minister José Ángel Portal said the wide-ranging vaccination program had led to a "radical change" in contagion and health risks and prompted the decision to do away with masks in most scenarios.

Officials said masks will remain mandatory for those in hospitals, as well as for people with pre-existing conditions or respiratory infections.

Cuba's Health Ministry said cases of coronavirus had nonetheless fallen for nine successive weeks, with daily infections plunging to under 100 in the latter half of May, and just two deaths in the month, according to ministry data.

Cuban scientists have said their protein-based Abdala, Soberana 02 and Soberana Plus COVID-19 vaccines give upwards of 90 percent protection against symptomatic illness when offered in three-dose schemes, though that research has not yet been vetted by the World Health Organization.

Medical workers attend to coronavirus patients in the COVID-19 intensive care unit at Kenyatta National Hospital in Nairobi, Kenya, April 14, 2021. (BRIAN INGANGA / AP)

Kenya

Kenya's Ministry of Health said Tuesday it has intensified COVID-19 vaccinations and is re-enforcing restrictions that include wearing of masks in public places as infections rise.

Kenya has in the last four days recorded more than 400 cases, an average of 100 a day, as cases increase from less than 10 daily in the last six months.

In response to the rising infections, Mutahi Kagwe, the cabinet secretary of Ministry of Health, said the ministry has intensified vaccinations, giving the jabs to 10,670 people on Monday, an increase from an average of 4,000 daily in previous months when infections were lower.

The new vaccinations push the number of those vaccinated to 18.2 million as the government works to achieve its target of vaccinating 27 million people by the end of June.

In this file photo taken on Jan 25, 2021, teachers wait in line to receive COVID-19 tests at the Exhibition and Convention Centre in Ljubljana, Slovenia. (ZELJKO STEVANIC / XINHUA)

Slovenia

The Slovenian government on Tuesday abolished all COVID-19 restrictions and also dismissed a group of experts which has over the past two years been advising the government on measures to curb the epidemic.

The government said on its website it abolished the restrictions upon the advice of the group of experts, adding recommendations regarding the COVID-19 will from now on be given by the National Institute of Public Health (NIJZ) which is also in charge of handling any other possible epidemic.

Slovenia has abolished most restrictions last month but until Tuesday citizens had to wear face masks whenever entering health institutions as well as nursing homes for the elderly.

The country has been badly hit by COVID-19 with the number of new daily cases gradually falling since Feb 1 when it reached an all-time high with 24,258 new cases. 

The latest available data shows that 380 new infections were registered on Monday, up from 60 a day before. Almost 58 percent of Slovenia's 2.1-million population have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19.