“School closures are by themselves insufficient to prevent community transmission of Covid-19” and should only be used as a “last resort”, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) said on Thursday 8 July in a report sent to national health authorities.
Children are susceptible to the virus and can transmit it, ECDC said, but it remains unclear what the exact burden of Covid-19 is in children and that this is a priority for research.
A higher proportion of Covid-19 cases was in any case observed among children aged 1-11 years between January-May 2021 (8.5%) and August-November 2020 (5.5%).
Highlighting a “likely continued risk of transmission among unvaccinated children”, the ECDC considers it “imperative” that the education system be very well prepared for the 2021/2022 school year. In particular, it advocates the development of screening strategies for institutions.
With regard to their closure, the ECDC states that the “negative physical, mental, and educational impacts on children” and the economic impact of such a decision on society as a whole would probably outweigh any benefits.
The Centre notes that the effectiveness of school closures appears to have decreased in the second wave, perhaps in part due to improved school hygiene measures.
Read the report: https://bit.ly/3k15xaf (Original version in French by Agathe Cherki)