The scientific evidence seems to agree in reporting the very limited role of children in the spread of the contagion of Covid-19. Information of which it is important to take into account in view of the reopening of the schools
The suspension of educational services for childhood and educational activities in schools of all levels and grade was among the first interventions adopted with the decree of the President of the Council of Ministers of 4 March 2020 in order to contain and manage the emergency from Covid-19.
This decision was made urgently, to encourage immediate physical distancing between people-indispensable to counter the circulation of the Sars-Cov-2 virus-considering how School activities inevitably lead to situations of proximity and aggregation. The remarkable impact of mobility towards and by the school on the mobility of the general population was also assessed. At the time of the decree, the information concerning the dissemination and transmission of the virus were still few and uncertain, so The closure of all didactic activities was to be considered as a fair precaution, despite the lack of evidence of effectiveness of the intervention. The decision adopted by Italy, moreover, was in line with the measures also taken by most of the other countries.
Children get less sick
Today knowledge has increased and we know better what the methods of contagion and spread of the virus are; The new information should guide the choices that will take to contain the epidemic.
What do the data concerning children tell us and that come from very different countries? First, first, It is now certain that they represent a very low percentage of the documented cases of Covid-19. We mention two studies, as an example: the data from the Italian city of Vo, where a screening of 70% of the population has been made, show that no child under the age of 10 was positive for the buffer, despite a positive rate of 2.6% in the general population. A similar study was almost published in Iceland: also in this case, no covid-positive people have been identified under the age of 10. (1)
These studies therefore confirm the “reluctance” of children to infect themselves. In the same direction, the results presented in one go Research Letter Published in Jama: the authors of the work conclude that children, in addition to getting less sick, would be infected even less and would be less contagious. (2)
