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kids remain a petri dish of covid spread

lack of thought to the role schools may play in amplifying a disease that kills adults 'astounding.'

why are more young people getting covid-19?
recent research has found the number of covid-19 cases are rising in youths and people under 39, and decreasing in those 60 and over. getty images

in ontario, more cases of covid-19 are appearing in people under the age of 20, according to new research from the university of guelph .

the bulk of new cases are appearing in toronto, hamilton, york region and peel region — which have all seen delays in entering stage two of reopening.
the research is not yet published, but it comes amidst a growing body of evidence of a rise of covid-19 cases in youths.

israel has seen 627 students and faculty infected since reopening its schools. 168 schools have closed and 21,807 students and staff remain in isolation. in the u.s., washington state has seen a 10 per cent decline in cases in adults age 60 years and older and a 20 per cent increase in people age 0 to 39.

the u.k. reported 24 respiratory outbreaks in schools this week. and in germany, the percentage of youth under 19 years old infected (7.5 per cent) had surpassed adults (6.5 per cent) and seniors (2.9 per cent).

last month, healthing looked at the available research on children and covid-19 and found that while children have more protection compared to adults, they are still as infectious as adults.

a new study published in nature suggests youth under 20 are half as susceptible compared to adults over 20, and also less likely to show symptoms if infected. this supports the idea of children returning to school this fall. however, the study does not look at how infected children could transmit to adults — a lingering concern many physicians have.

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one preprint study on household transmission found children in israel were 85 per cent as much as infectious as adults.

and while youth are less susceptible, they may be socializing more and less cautious of physical distancing guidelines. the higher amount of exposure they put themselves eventually overrides their advantage of less susceptibility.

this week, toronto’s hospital for sick children released guidelines for children returning to school this september. several pediatric epidemiologists and infectious diseases physicians have expressed concerns for the assumptions it makes based on limited knowledge.

the guidelines say masks should not be worn by children because it is “not practical for a child to wear a mask properly for the duration of a school day.”
sick kids’ guidelines state students should be taught to wash their hands properly, have their desks kept as far apart as possible and all assemblies should be cancelled. it also notes that children in europe have returned to school without masks, but fails to note schools in east asia where children continue to wear masks.
the guidelines also suggest children wearing masks can cause more harm than good — a point critics have said there are no studies to back this claim.

south korea, for example, has been slowly reopening schools since late may with implemented school safety. the country has also been applauded for its testing and contact tracing infrastructure to reduce community transmission.

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in an interview with the national post , dr. david fisman, head of the epidemiology division at the university of toronto’s school of public health, says masks should be mandatory, given the amount of evidence it has on preventing further spread of the virus.

“this whole document reeks of the kind of laissez-faire approach that got us into trouble with long-term care facilities and which now has sweden in so much trouble,” said fisman. “the complete lack of thought given to the role schools may play in amplifying a disease that kills adults is just astounding.”

dduong@postmedia.com | @dianaduo

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