Children′s role in pandemic is still a puzzle

ABSTRACT

Ending school closures has clear benefits for children′s education and mental healthnot to mention their parents′ well-beingbut scientists disagree about the risks. Several studies of COVID-19 hint that children are less likely to catch the novel coronavirus and don′t often transmit it to others. But the data are scant and there are many unknowns.A recent survey of the literature couldn′t find a single example of a child younger than 10 passing the virus on to someone else. Some governments are beginning to reopen schools and hoping that doing so won′t accelerate transmission of the virus. Some worry that even if children transmit less efficiently than adults, they may make up for it by their far more expansive web of contacts, especially at school. Several new studies now underway aim to better gauge the risk, including one announced on 4 May by the U.S. National Institutes of Health, which will follow 2000 families for 6 mo.