Children under 10 cannot transmit the virus?

[Whatsthis1515]

www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-52470838

What are your thoughts on this? Would be amazing if true

Yes this would be fantastic. But I thought there had been cases of children testing positive, including a newborn baby?
Also there would need to be more information about the exact age where they are "safe" because I'm sure they dont suddenly grow the receptors on their 10th birthday - some would be 9, some 11 and so on

Very interesting but also very confusing as there have indeed been cases of children/ babies testing positive. And only the other day there was news of a possible serious inflammatory reaction in children, though they don’t know for sure it’s linked to corona.

It’s so frustrating that there’s so much conflicting advice and evidence. I understand why, since it’s a totally novel virus, but it’s frustrating all the same!

There is a difference between children being able to catch the virus and therefore test positive and them being able to transmit the virus. Evidence increasingly suggests that although they can catch it, the don’t transmit it.

The Dutch have sent primary schools (up to age 12 there) back on the basis of their research on this. Looks like the Swiss have found the same.

Interesting if true because we haven't heard of huge numbers of childcare and teaching staff succumbing to this disease. Also, with so many staff still in looking after children of key workers, who I would argue would be at most risk of carrying the disease, we haven't heard any bad news there either? Of course there may well be, it's just too early to know much at all.

That would be amazing. I am not convinced (don't know enough). It would worry me that it is too soon to know this 100%.

So why can't they babysit them then? And why can they hug them only briefly?

Doesn't make sense!

I would love it if it turns out to be the case.

I thought this. If it's safe, then why is it only briefly hugging and not childcare.

I really hope it’s true. I can’t wait for my 18 month old DS to hug his grandparents again

How do they not transmit it when they’re always sticking their fingers up their noses, down their pants and licking random objects? Or is it just my kids?!

We kept schools going right up til lockdown, when Covid was widely spread across the general public.

And yet there have not been reports of a high proportion of teachers becoming ill.

Schools are normally viral swamps, so if children were commonly capable of spreading the virus, then you would expect more teachers to become ill than a random sample of the population.

Research seems to be reaching the same conclusion based on the virology of covid.

So lets get schools open...

... except that doesn't mean that there will be zero risk, and too many people seem to be holding out for a magical zero risk scenario.

I hope that this is true. I think we need more research into it though.

The real test of this will be when schools go back.

The Dutch day there hasn’t been a single cluster around a school or childcare provision or around a child, or from a child to an adult within a household. This is despite the fact that under 12s have never had to adhere to social distancing there.

Kids’ poor personal hygiene habits make no difference if they’re not shedding enough of the virus to infect other people.

And I’d assume the Swiss advice not to babysit is because although they know kids only transmit low amounts of the virus they’re not absolutely certain that they wouldn’t shed enough to be infectious with extended contact.

We need to wait and see what comes of this first - Drs in Switzerland are trialing it

Interestingly, I asked a question about children in another thread (lady who was worrying about the fact she'd sent her child in to school and was regretting it) - I did wonder whether anyone had heard/read of any cases where the teachers still teaching the key workers' children had contracted covid - as the children are living (in most cases) with their key worker parents and then attending school.

@venustiger no idea about here, we don’t get told enough. But not a single case in the Netherlands, where they had the same key worker arrangements as us.

DD, 5 yo, was the first to get a cough in this house I. March, then me and DH last. It might not have been coronavirus but we all had the dry persistent cough and aches etc.

My friends 3 week old baby was rushed to hospital with a high temperature, she tested positive for coronavirus (they're in Sweden so different criteria for testing). My friend and her partner/baby's father both became ill too. It's unclear who had it first but my friend definitely started symptoms after baby become ill. Could be the dad of course.

This is why I’d send schools back as normal but keep the lockdown the same otherwise. Review after a fortnight to see what effect they actually have on the virus transmission.

But scientists have poured cold water on the move, warning of no consensus in the scientific community.
Professor Russell Viner, the president of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, said: "We don't think that it would be a good idea for children to hug their grandparents in the UK without more data.

Of course we don’t have adequate data in this country to have a clue whether it’s true. We’ve done nowhere near enough testing. But the Netherlands and Switzerland do have some of the strongest science communities in the world, it’s not like this is coming from David Icke.

Erm! I am sure they can look at other countries scientific data and conclude.

Yes I think the Swiss would research this thoroughly and to be honest our scientific approach here (Cheltenham anyone?) has been somewhat lacking.

This is positive. And we have the benefit of being able to watch what other countries do and see how that works.

I’m pleased more positive research is coming out about children and this virus.

That’s the worst emoji. There is literally a post two posts up quoting a UK scientist saying there isn’t enough data. Thus indicating that they aren’t concluding on the basis of the Dutch and Swiss data (the Netherlands and Switzerland being ‘other countries’).