#Almost 100K US kids infected with COVID-19 in last two weeks of July

Almost 100,000 American children tested positive for the coronavirus in the last two weeks of July — an alarming 40 percent rise, according to new data.

As officials continue to wrestle over the safest way to get kids back to school, a compilation of states’ data shows a clear increase in youngsters getting infected — with at least 86 dying since May.

The true figures are likely higher, with some states not breaking down cases by age, and the only New York data available coming from the city, and not the rest of the Empire State.

Confounding the confusion, states also varied in their definition of children, with many listing it as under 14 — so excluding high schoolers — while Alabama bizarrely pushed it as high as 24.

In total, 338,982 children have been reported as having COVID-19, which is 8.8% of overall cases, according to the report compiled by the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children’s Hospital Association.

But the most worrying trend is the 97,078 new child cases reported over the last two weeks of July — a 40% increase, the report said.

In 25 states, at least one in 10 new confirmed infections was a child, with six states each having more than 15,000 child cases.

The alarming trend was blamed on the current epicenters in the south and west of the nation, which saw seven out of 10 of the new cases, the report states.

The Big Apple and New Jersey — the original hotspots — both reported less than 3% of cases being children.