Times Of Swaziland: THE CASE FOR REOPENING SCHOOLS

THE CASE FOR REOPENING SCHOOLS
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By Daniel T. Halperin  on 01/06/2020 23:43:00


AS lockdown restrictions ease, a critical question looms: When do we reopen
schools? Parents and others weighing COVID-19′s risk to children and the
adults they may infect, directly or indirectly, should consider emerging
evidence that suggests children are not significant transmitters of COVID-19.
These data, coupled with the enormous adverse impacts of continuing closures,
argue for reopening schools by fall.
Of about 360 000 COVID-19 deaths worldwide, only about two dozen children are
known to have died. For all the recent reports of serious complications among
young people, these are statistically rare and, if detected early, most
afflicted youths recover within weeks. While most countries have shuttered
schools, others such as Taiwan have achieved effective responses without
closures.
Decreased
In Denmark and Norway, where schools began reopening in mid-April, COVID-19
cases and deaths have decreased. Normally, gregarious youngsters are efficient
spreaders of respiratory pathogens. But this appears not to be the case with
COVID-19.
Emerging evidence suggests that, much like with the Severe Acute Respiratory
Syndrome (SARS) epidemic in 2003, children are less likely to become infected
with this coronavirus.
Resistance
From February 12 to April 2, just 1.7 per cent of US cases for which age is
known occurred among people younger than 18. Some researchers theorise that some
resistance has been conferred by previous exposure to other coronaviruses, such
as those that produce the common colds that children frequently acquire.
Additionally, a study published in JAMA found that youths are less prone to
infection because they produce smaller quantities of a protein, ACE2, which both
SARS and the novel coronavirus use to enter cells.
A German study that warns against reopening schools found viral loads in
infected children at levels comparable to adults. There is evidence, however,
that as with the earlier SARS outbreak, children who have COVID-19 are less
contagious than adults. Many children with COVID-19 are asymptomatic; in the
absence of coughing and sneezing, they emit fewer infectious droplets.
Remarkably, contact tracing studies in China, Iceland, Britain and the
Netherlands failed to locate a single case of child-to-adult infection out of
thousands of transmission events analysed. A review of studies from several
Asian countries identified few cases of children bringing the virus home, and a
recent analysis of COVID-19 interventions found no evidence that school closures
had helped contain the epidemic.
Some of this data likely underestimates children’s potential to infect others
because information was collected after lockdowns and other mitigation measures
were implemented. Still, the findings from contact tracing and the significant
biological differences between COVID-19 and more common respiratory ailments
suggest that children are not major sources of infection.
Warned
Anthony S. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious
Diseases, recently warned against reopening schools too early, and noted
complications in some children that resemble Kawasaki disease.
The emerging condition, known as multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children,
is troubling and must be monitored. But it also appears rare; so far, only
several hundred US cases have been reported.
Other consequences of school closures include recent surges in child abuse;
hunger from missed subsidised meals; greater anxiety, depression and isolation.
Students with autism, Down syndrome, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder
and other special needs are at particular risk. But months away from friends and
school structure takes a toll on all students, as beleaguered parents everywhere
can attest.