Children are covid 19 spreaders

[Chewbacca1111]

What implications does this have for schools?

[Chewbacca1111]

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8272905/Children-catch-coronavirus-adults-study-finds.html

[Grumpbum123]

Coronavirus: No child known to have passed COVID-19 to adults, global study finds

[Grumpbum123]

Sorry tried to link on sky news

[JulietTango]

I think if children were super spreaders we'd hear about more teachers getting it.
They're the ones looking after key workers children

[HarrietOh]

www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/30/coronavirus-scientists-caution-against-reopening-schools

[KeepWashingThoseHands]

That study says children spread at the same rate as the average. SHOCKING.

[shampooandtea]

I think if children were super spreaders we'd hear about more teachers getting it.
They're the ones looking after key workers children

They don't split teachers into categories you know. Plus theres only 5 percent of kids in school some are using social distance.

[TheLastSaola]

There are two ways of answering the question about whether children spread coronavirus.

One is to look at virus levels in children. The guardian study linked above indicates that children do carry a viral load similar to adults. This would seem t indicate that children could pass it on, just as adult do and so shouldn't be treated differently.

The other is to look at known coronavirus cases, and to examine whether there are any patterns to indicate that children have been active in spreading the disease. For example, have teachers and childcare workers been over represented in cases, or have any schools become clusters of the disease. Evidence acted on by the Swiss and Dutch governments seems to suggest that children have not active spreaders, and so children could be excluded from rules around social distancing for example.

I prefer as an evidence source the second method - I prefer evidence based on occurred fact rather than theory - but I understand others would prefer the first.

Ultimately its extremely unlikely that children cannot pass on the virus at all, but evidence does seem strong that they are much less active spreaders than adults.

The relaxation of restrictions on them, therefore, becomes one of appetite for risk. How much of a priority do you make equal access to education which can only come from fully reopening schools; how much increased risk can you ask teachers to take on; do you prioritise other areas of the economy over children's education; how can you communicate this message with a nervous teacher and parent population? Not easy questions.

[nellodee]

There is no definitive answer yet. You can't follow the science on this, because scientific opinion is divided.

[ofwarren]

This was obvious really. Even if they don't show many symptoms, kids are the perfect vector. In school they touch EVERYTHING. They share pens and paper and play involves lots of holding hands etc.
Even if they don't necessarily cough on each other, they are spreading it by touch.

[Alb1]

I read today that WHO looked at 78 studies and have not found a single case were a child under 10 has passed the virus to an adult so it seems unlikely they are super spreaders. Clearly enough isn’t known yet though.

[shampooandtea]

There is the French study in the lycee showing older kids do transfer it too.

[Alb1]

news.sky.com/story/coronavirus-no-child-known-to-have-passed-covid-19-to-adults-global-study-finds-11981111

[TheLastSaola]

@ofwarren you've brought up a key point.

Children should be superspreaders, they are in prolonged social contact when at school and have terrible personal hygene. This means schools should be hotbeds for virus transmission. For most viruses, for example influenza or norovirus, this is what we see.

And yet, despite us keeping schools open almost until lockdown, we haven't had any reported over representation of teachers as coronavirus victims, nor any reported instances of schools being clusters of the virus.

This is the evidence that the Swiss and Dutch are now acting on and that I find so compelling --- but I think sourcing the data to be sure of it would be very difficult.

[nellodee]

This is from the ACTUAL report, Alb1:

Precise details regarding paediatric transmission remain unclear. Low
case numbers in children suggest a more limited role than was initially
feared. Contact tracing data from Shenzen in China demonstrated an
equivalent attack rate in children as adults, however this has been contradicted by subsequent data in Japan which showed a significantly lower attack rate in children. This, coupled with low case numbers would suggest at least that children are less likely to acquire the disease.

[nellodee]

And this is the evidence that there was no transmission from children in China:

Notably, the China/WHO joint commission could not recall episodes during contact tracing where transmission occurred from a child to an adult.

[nellodee]

This isn't research, it's a literature review. Very different beast.

[TheEmojiFormerlyKnownAsPrince]

There was someone on here who worked at a school where a kid infected a teacher and the teacher died.

I think there’s been 50 or so education staff that have died, but it doesn’t get reportd

[pfrench]

It's not about child to adult, it's about adult to adult via the community around a school. A german study had schools being hubs for transmission, but adult to adult. Parents are in and out of schools all the time, they gather in playgrounds and so on. There is no way that parents would pick up then go home, there would be playdates, park gatherings and so on. Once schools go back, social distancing is 80% over.

[tempestterra]

WHO looked at 78 studies and have not found a single case were a child under 10 has passed the virus to an adult so it seems unlikely they are super spreaders.

And that would be the same WHO, that when first notified about the disease said there was no human to human transmission is it?

I have very little faith in WHO, didn't they make Mugabe a good will ambassador? I think WHO are probably quite easy to bully / manipulate as an organisation, and therefore I'm not convinced they can produce impartial science or advice.

[Alb1]

Just because they are teachers doesn’t mean they could have only caught the virus from children. Also not all primary children are under 10, also pre lockdown my child’s school was still holding bake sales and inviting parents in for parent forums right until the week of lockdown so there was plenty of risk for teachers other than from children. I didn’t say children absolutely don’t spread it so there’s no point quoting it at me like I’m wrong as I clearly said enough isn’t known yet, by me or anybody else.

[REdReDRE]

@pfrench I don't think is necessarily true. My peers would definitely continue to abide by any restrictions around play dates etc even if schools were reopened. My children's school had staggered drop offs and pick ups before lockdown to greatly reduce parents having to hang around.

[Chewbacca1111]

This is why schools won’t reopen anytime soon