A lot more kids have had COVID than you think | Coronavirus Updates Newsletter

The gist: This week, new CDC data estimate that the true number of children who have had COVID-19 may be about four times higher than the official figures. That news comes as masking becomes optional but encouraged for students and staff in the Camden school district. Plus, as Monkeypox continues to spread ahead of the school year, some local universities are still preparing for it. And in Philly, Black Philadelphians account for a majority of monkeypox cases, but have received only a small share of the city’s vaccine supply.

📥 Tell us: If you’ve had COVID, what was your experience like? Send us a note, and we’ll share some responses in next week’s newsletter. Please keep it to 35 words.

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— Nick Vadala (@njvadala, health@inquirer.com)

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New CDC data suggest that among children, the true number of COVID cases is much higher than reported. Among 26,726 blood samples collected in May and June, nearly 80% contained a type of antibody that the immune system produces only in response to infection — not in response to vaccines. And overall, the CDC estimates that at least 57 million youths were infected with the coronavirus by the end of June — four times higher than the official tally of reported cases.

🎓 Monkeypox is spreading as college students return to campuses. Some universities in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware are still preparing guidance and policies about the disease.

💉 Black Philadelphians account for more than half of Philadelphia’s monkeypox cases, but received less than a quarter of the city’s vaccine doses — an alarming disparity in the midst of a fast-spreading virus.

😷 For the first time since the pandemic started, masks will be optional but encouraged for students and staff in the Camden school district return next month for the 2022-2023 school year.

💰 Camden County is offering $1,000 in pandemic relief to area caregivers employed providing direct personal care to the elderly, children, or adults with disabilities.

👨‍⚕️ After being introduced to millions of Americans during the pandemic, Anthony Fauci will leave the federal government in December, capping a 50-plus-year career in public service.

🦠 Pfizer is seeking to have an updated COVID vaccine booster authorized in the fall that will add protection against the new omicron subvariants of the disease.

📽️ Cinemark, owner of Regal Cinemas, is considering filing for bankruptcy as the movie theater industry contends with the fallout of the pandemic, which shuttered movie houses around the world.

💻 One pandemic behavior that appears to be sticking around? Online grocery shopping, which has seen sales in 2022 reach a height four times greater than pre-pandemic levels.

📉 Coronavirus cases are falling in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Track the latest data here.

We recently asked what your experience with being sick with COVID was like. Here’s what you told us:

😣 “First couple days were the worst. No fever. Bad headache, sore throat and nasal congestion. Was able to work from home while having it. Took 18 days to fully recover.”

😧 “No fever; no chills; no loss of taste or smell. Very bad sore throat and dry harsh cough. Sick about 5 days but it has been more than a month and I am still coughing.”

🤒 “48 hours of not being able to get out of bed. Fever, chills, sore throat and extreme fatigue. Fatigue lingered for weeks.”

😷 “I got Covid, fully vaccinated — very sick, but Paxlovid made the difference. Masks should still be mandated. Everyone needs to get vaccinated to stop the spread.”

🤷 “I had COVID in December 2020 — it was tough and I had cardiac issues. Got vaxxed and boosted. Had Omicron in January 2022 — I’ve had colds that were worse.”

When Shahira Davis ran away from a group placement home in North Philadelphia as a kid, she sought refuge with a phone call to her grandfather from a red phone booth outside of a day care on Frankford Avenue. As her grandfather promised, she never went back to group placement, and today, she owns that day care — the Little Scholars of the Future Learning Academy — and her “trauma turned into a triumph.”

🏫 Summer is still barely hanging on for Philadelphia’s students, but for thousands of teachers, its already over — and one school welcomed its staff back in style, complete with a blue carpet and gift bags.

🍺 Parks on Tap is traveling once again starting next week, bringing beer cocktails, rosé, and snacks to parks around the city. Here’s when and where to go.

🏀 You may be a fan of rising sixers star Tyrese Maxey. But we’re betting you don’t love him as much as former Phillie John Kruk.

After a two-year hiatus, county fairs have returned to fairgrounds across Pennsylvania this summer, bringing with them rides and games of chance, fried foods and funnel cakes, rabbits, sheep, goats, pigs and cows, large vegetables and 4-H ribbons. As one organizer put it, “It is good to be normal. Normal is fun.”