Primary school kids are NOT coronavirus super spreaders, major study shows
PRIMARY school children are not coronavirus super spreaders, a major study shows.
Researchers from Australia found that kids are unlikely to transmit Covid-19 between each other or to adults.
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And the research is now being considered by UK Government advisers as they consider how to get children back into classrooms safely ahead of June 1.
The study by New South Wales Health’s Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance (NCIRS), , analysed the spread of the virus in NSW schools and childcare centres between March and mid-April.
The researchers looked at 18 coronavirus cases (nine students and nine staff) from 15 schools.
And the report’s preliminary findings were that only one primary school student and one high school student “may have contracted Covid-19 from the initial cases at their schools”.
It comes amid a long row between unions and the Government about whether or not it's right for children in reception, years one and six in England to go back to primary school from June 1.
Critics say it's not enough time and are concerned having kids back will see the rate of the virus spread creep up again.
Ministers hope reopening schools will be a key step in getting Britain moving again as the country emerges from almost two months of coronavirus lockdown.
Kids will have classroom limits, spaced out desks and staggered classes and year groups in on different days.
Just yesterday, Michael Gove promised that children and teachers will be as "safe as possible" in schools.
We are confident that children and teachers will be safe
Michael Gove
The Cabinet Office minister told the BBC yesterday: "Yes, teachers will be safe in schools. I talked to the Chief Scientific Adviser yesterday.
"Running through the figures, the R number, we are confident that children and teachers will be safe, providing the right measures are in place."
He added that it is "extremely unlikely" that any school will be the source of a Covid-19 outbreak.
"We know that school settings are not the source of infection that some have feared; we know that they can be made safe and appropriate working places," he said.
But when grilled on the claims he stressed: "you can never eliminate risk" and added: "There is always, always, always, in any loosening of these restrictions, a risk of people catching the coronavirus."
Dr Soumya Swaminathan, the World Health Organisation’s Chief Scientist, also said on Sunday that “there have not been big outbreaks in schools” and the early results of studies are “very reassuring”.
She said that “the risks to children are extremely low with this infection, and there have not been many cases described of children transmitting it to others, particularly within school settings”.
The Telegraph revealed that Sage - the Government's scientific advisory group - is preparing to publish its own evidence in the coming days which will set out the thinking behind recommending that schools reopen gradually.
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