that is up from around 700 last month. this is leading to an overwhelming increase in demand for testing. we'll take you live to miami where people have been waiting for hours at a testing location this morning. let's begin with the spike in children being hospitalized. alexander field is tracking the numbers. alex, the hospitals in new york have seen a five fold increase in pediatric cases. both of us are parents of kids too young to get vaccinated. so i think the fear that we have is being felt by a lot of parents across the country. >> reporter: yeah, look, poppy, i can't say it enough. this is a headline that's hard for parents to take in, especially the ones who feel they've been battered in so many ways, trying to get through this pandemic, trying to steer their children safely through it. when you see this increase, we've got to point to it because it is indicative of the trend. there's an upward count, a five fold increase since december 1 th in new york city.