As more schools prepare to return to in-person learning, the number of children getting COVID-19 is increasing.
According to a report by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the Children's Hospital Association (CHA), there has been a 16% increase in COVID-19 cases in children during the past two weeks.
However, it's important to note children make up 12.7% of overall COVID-19 cases, according to AAP.
In papers published Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association, researchers with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) concluded there is little evidence to show schools have meaningfully contributed to COVID-19 transmission when safety precautions are in place.
So, what should parents know if their child is returning to the school building? 10TV interviewed Dr. Dane Snyder from Nationwide Children's Hospital.
Snyder said it's important to talk with your child before they return to in-person learning.
"If they're getting ready to go back to school, talk with them about how it might be a little different," Snyder said. "Conversations that involve practice: practicing wearing a mask, making sure when they go back to school it's not the first time...kids, just like adults, like what they know. They don't like things that are different. If you can make it as familiar as possible, that would be the goal in my mind."
It's also not a bad idea to have a routine in mind for when your child returns home to keep things clean.
"Make sure you wash your hands when you get home, change your clothes, otherwise, let a kid be a kid," he said.
While there is no COVID-19 vaccine approved for children just yet, health leaders expect to have one by late spring or early summer.
"The key message I give parents is when it is available, we are going to recommend it. It not only helps the child but those they come in contact with who might be at higher risk."
To read the state's vaccine rollout plan for schools, click here.