New data from a pediatric group shows that children in the United States who've contracted COVID-19 make up 14% of the total number of positive cases.

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, as of July 29, more than four million children have tested positive for the coronavirus since the pandemic began. Nearly 72,000 of those cases were reported in the past week.

That's almost twice as many cases from the previous week when about 39,000 cases were reported.

"After declining in early summer, child cases have steadily increased in July," the group said in a news release.

Severe illness and death amongst children are uncommon in children, the group said.

In states reporting, fewer than 1% of children accounted for all COVID-19 deaths, with seven states reporting zero child deaths.

Other states reported 0.00%-0.03% of all child COVID-19 cases resulted in death, the group said.

The report comes as schools start or start soon, with some requiring no masks or social distancing.