Graphics: Here are how many children are infected with the coronavirus en masse.

Childhood coronavirus cases are on the rise as the highly contagious Delta variant sweeps through Massachusetts, according to data from the state’s Department of Public Health.

As of August 11, the state recorded 2,913 cases over a two-week period among 0-19 year olds. This compares to a two-week total of 255 reported as recently as July 14.

The following graph shows the total number of cases over two weeks (which the state calculates weekly) in people up to 19 years old, broken down into four age groups: under 5, 5-9, 10- 14 years old and 15-19 years old.

The chart dates back to early April, when the state began releasing data broken down by the four groups. At the time, the state was seeing an increase in the number of cases going from the winter push to extremely low levels around the beginning of July.

Data for group 0-19 as a whole are available for a longer period. Here’s a graph showing this group and other age groups from last summer’s lull after the first wave. Use the drop-down list to focus on cases since April 7.

Cases among children are on the rise as they prepare to return to school and the public debate continues on whether teachers, students and staff should all be required to wear masks, vaccinated or not, to prevent the spread of the virus.

Cases among young people, although one of the main drivers of the total number of cases, as the graph shows, resulted in far fewer hospitalizations and deaths.

A report last week by the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children’s Hospital Association said eight Massachusetts children died out of a total of nearly 18,000 deaths.

Some to worry, however, that children can suffer lasting effects even after their recovery.

And as the Delta variant has spread like wildfire across the country, hitting hardest on places where fewer people have been vaccinated, concerns has been raised that the variant can cause more serious illness in children this time around. But there is no proof yet.

“I haven’t seen any peer-reviewed data, or any data from a reliable source, to suggest this,” said Dr Shira Doron, infectious disease physician and hospital epidemiologist at Tufts Medical Center. .

The majority of pediatric infections are still mild, said Dr Philip Landrigan, pediatrician and director of the Global Public Health Program at Boston College.

“They can have the same symptoms as adults – cough, cold, fever, muscle pain, runny nose – but it’s generally milder than in adults,” he said.

So what does the state’s hospitalization data say about the children’s situation during this Delta variant peak?

There is no data at the moment. While the state provides an age breakdown for cases and deaths, it has stopped providing a breakdown for hospitalizations since June, when the numbers were at their lowest.

For the two-week period ending June 19, the last time the state disaggregated data by age, the number of people hospitalized from 0 to 19 was one. The number had been as high as 13 at one point during the winter surge.

Governor Charlie Baker has now promised the data will be restored. And state officials say they hope to bring back pediatric hospitalization data by the end of the week.

Martin Finucane can be contacted at [email protected]. Camille Caldera can be contacted at [email protected].