MILWAUKEE— The number of children testing positive for COVID-19 across the country is on the rise, with the American Academy of Pediatrics confirming more than 88,000 cases a week ago alone.

"There's no question that as things improve, we hear about people who are in government who think masks are perhaps not so important for kids in schools because things [overall] have gotten better," Dr. Ellen Wald, chair of the department of pediatrics at the University of Wisconsin school of medicine and public health and pediatrician-in-chief of the American Family Children's Hospital, told Spectrum News 1. "But that's just the kind of activity that sets us back once again."

The Wisconsin Department of Health Services now reports that over the past few weeks, teens and children 17 and younger have accounted for more cases of COVID-19 than any other age group across Wisconsin.

While the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention continues to insist that "[m]ost children with COVID-19 have mild symptoms or have no symptoms at all," Dr. Wald is asking parents to continue to take any-and-all precautions to keep their kids from contracting the virus and possibly spreading it to others.

"We as responsible adults must do everything we can to keep the level of infection in the community low," Dr. Wald said. "The lower that is, the lower the number of cases that get into schools or are exposing children [to it.]"

You can watch the entire interview with Dr. Wald above.