INTERNATIONAL: The number of pediatric COVID-19 hospitalizations in the U.S. has continued to rise, with a daily average of 262 children being admitted to hospital in the week leading up to Christmas.

According to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, compared to the previous seven-day period, the weekly figure has shot up nearly 35 percent in the week ending December 24.

Despite the sudden rise, the latest data shows the total is some 23 percent lower than the peak of late August and early September, when a daily average of 342 children were admitted to hospital.

Since August last year, nearly 75,000 children aged under 17 have been hospitalized after testing positive for COVID-19, and while this accounts for the lowest proportion among all age groups, the general number of hospitalizations is on the rise.

Pediatric hospitalizations in the states of Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont have spiked 65.7 percent compared to the previous week, while the figure for New Jersey, New York, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands has skyrocketed by 173.55 percent, data shows.