<Anchor> In the
United States, a survey result showed that the number of confirmed cases of children in the last month increased by nearly five times. As the new semester begins, most schools are resuming face-to-face classes as before Corona, but concerns are growing as the number of children infected is increasing.
Correspondent Kim Jong-won from New York.
<Reporter>
Last week, the number of confirmed cases of coronavirus among children in the United States exceeded 180,000.
Compared to the end of July, it has increased nearly five times in less than a month, which is similar to last winter, when the corona crisis reached its worst.
[Alan Levin / Director of Ballard Health Hospital: More than a third of the corona tests conducted at our hospital are children under the age of 18. As the number of children infected continues to increase, the corona continues to spread in schools.] The
problem is that children under the age of 12 cannot yet be vaccinated.
As a result, measures to make the wearing of masks compulsory in schools are expanding.
[Joe Biden/President of the United States: Please make sure that children wear masks when they leave the house. Especially if you haven't been vaccinated yet, please, please do it right now.]
However, in Florida, parents who were protesting against the mandatory mask were arrested at school, and opposition is also strong.
[Dan/Parents arrested during a protest against wearing a mask: It is illegal to make a mask mandatory. It's breaking the law, and it's violating the rights of parents.]
Eventually, it spreads to social conflict.
[Put on a mask! Wear a mask!]
[High school student: I didn't force myself to wear a mask because someone forced me to wear it. We all chose to wear masks to protect our friends.] It
is unclear whether vaccinations under the age of 12
will be
approved within this year, raising concerns that the number of children infected will increase.