The number of COVID-19 cases in children increased dramatically last week, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics.
The American Academy of Pediatrics published a new report showing almost 72,000 new cases of COVID-19 among children in just the past week.
The previous week there were roughly 39,000 reported cases.
"This virus is real. It's definitely real," said Joseph Hinckley, who was visiting the San Luis Obispo Children's Museum with his child on Wednesday.
He says he's not concerned about safety at the museum but if cases continue to rise, it could keep him from sending his child to daycare.
"Potentially, yes. The rise in the Delta variant is something to be concerned about. That's something we should be paying attention to," Hinckley said.
Mary Moy also took her children to the museum on Wednesday. She says she is concerned about the transmission rate among children and she and her kids will be wearing masks when in close proximity to others.
"I'm concerned and when we go into the museum, we'll wear masks and the same thing with school. The school district has already sent out an email saying that everyone is going to be masked all the time and when they're outside they can take the masks off," Moy said.
She says mask mandates are the reason she is willing to send her children back to school.
"I don't know if, otherwise, we'd send them back to school without it. We'd probably keep them home again," Moy said.
Pediatrician Dr. Rene Bravo says he has seen an uptick in COVID-19 cases among children in San Luis Obispo.
"We're starting to anecdotally see more cases of coronavirus infection here. In the last few months, there really wasn't a lot but over the last two weeks, we've started to see cases again of people testing positive, so it is definitely coming back," Dr. Bravo said.
He attributes the increase to unvaccinated individuals and restrictions being lifted.
"Oh, I definitely think Delta variant is playing into this," he added. "I believe that you know, it's already been documented here in this community and county and I think they're following that closely and I think it's important that people pay attention to this because I think it will halter the way that we're doing this."
Dr. Bravo says he expects to see an uptick in cases once children are back in school together, and the best way for parents to help keep their kids safe is to get vaccinated.