A review of the roles of schools and daycare centers in the COVID-19 pandemic finds that children under the age of 10 are not a major source of the disease. The impact of COVID-19 on children has been uncertain throughout the ongoing pandemic. While most relevant studies have found that children are less susceptible to the disease, others have suggested that they have a similar rate of infection to adults. And although COVID-19 is generally a mild disease in children, there have been reports of a rare inflammatory syndrome occurring in children with COVID-19. Uncertainty about the impact of the disease on children and about their ability to transmit the virus to others has caused confusion and led to concerns about the reopening of schools. Overall, the studies published so far suggest that the likelihood of contracting and transmitting COVID-19 scales with age and that young children are unlikely to be a major source of transmission. “The bottom line, thus far, is that children under 10 years of age are unlikely to drive outbreaks of COVID-19 in daycares and schools and that, to date, adults were much more likely to be the transmitter of infection than children,” explains assistant professor Sarah Neil-Sztramko, of the NCCMT and McMaster University’s Department of Health Research Methods, Evidence, and Impact. Although the findings of the review were consistent, the authors say that a further review should be performed at a later date, in case the findings change.

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