In the coming weeks, the reopening of schools will mean the end of isolation in several European countries. While the COVID-19 epidemic appears to be far from abating, is the risk well-weighted?
Educational institutions will open their doors gradually, starting on April 27 in Norway, May 4 in Germany and May 11 in France and Switzerland. They are open in Denmark this Sunday, writes Jutarnji list.
What risks are children and teachers exposed to? What are the dangers of spreading the coronavirus in schools? Will the resumption of classes rekindle the epidemic before the summer holidays?
What are the risks to children?
Deaths from the coronavirus among children are rare.
In France, two minors have died of COVID-19 so far: a 16-year-old teenage girl and a child under 10 years old.
Severe cases among children under the age of 15 make up only 0,6 percent of the total number in that country, according to data from the French Public Health Agency.
"Why do children have mild symptoms and rarely end up in the hospital? I admit that I don't have an answer to that right now," epidemiologist Antan Flahault, director of the Institute for Global Health at the University of Geneva, told AFP.
There are several hypotheses based on children's immunity.
It seems, therefore, that there is little risk that young people will get seriously ill after returning to school desks and school playgrounds.
What are the risks of spreading the infection?
Another issue concerns the fact that children can transmit the virus to family members or teachers even though they are not sick or have only mild symptoms.
The data in this regard are less clear, primarily because it is difficult to determine how much some groups in the population can spread the virus if they have few or no symptoms.
"The amount of virus in children is probably not that high, it is lower than in adults," pointed out Professor Jean-François Delfrayzi, president of the Scientific Council for COVID-19, which advises the French government on the epidemic.
"There is not enough data" on the transmission of the virus between children and children to their families, he added during a hearing in parliament.
"Contrary to the flu, where children are the main carriers, it seems that in the case of the coronavirus, they excrete less virus," said Prof. Odile Loney, infectious disease specialists at a Paris hospital.
"Leaving schools closed and allowing adults to return to work would be pointless in terms of organizing family life and public health," Professor Flaho points out.
"In that case, the children would probably be looked after by grandparents, and that's exactly what we don't want," the public health expert points out.
Testing in Iceland, the most extensive in the world so far, supports arguments that children play a small role in transmitting the virus. In that country's testing program, no child under 10 tested positive.
The return to schools can be accompanied by social distancing measures and the obligation to wear masks for teachers and/or students, even the right not to come to school for those who think they are at greater risk, Flaho noted.
Returning to schools will be beneficial "when it comes to nutrition and access to education for poorer children," he said.
Risk of a new epidemic before summer?
If it is confirmed that children are weak carriers of the coronavirus, there is more to be feared from leaving school than from physical education classes, according to pediatrician and infectious disease expert Robert Cohen.
"Arrivals at school and departures are moments when adults meet. It may play a role in the epidemic more than the children themselves,” he said.
"We should know what we want. If we don't open schools, we can't let people go back to work. The lifting of isolation does not mean that we will have zero infected during the summer. We will allow social and state life to recover to a certain extent and we will hope to control the situation so that there will be no blockades of hospitals," said Flaho.
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