The jury is still out – and some of the evidence missing – regarding the relative immunity to the Covid infection by children. This NYTimes article investigates the situation regarding the new, more infectious strain. Based on research done by Public Health England, using detailed contact-tracing, including thousands of children under 10 years of age, the report “showed that young children were about half as likely as adults to transmit the variant to others. That was true of the previous iteration of the virus, as well”. In what many see as a political panic response Boris Johnson forced schools to close, and not reopen till mid-February at the earliest. But the research still speaks for itself. As Dr Muge Cevik, an infectious disease expert University of St Andrews, Scotland, and scientific adviser to the British government has confirmed “We need to find ways to return these kids back to school as soon as possible; we need to use this time period to prepare”. Closing schools has many negative ramifications apart forcing parents to attend more to their children and their learning. Let us enable schools to open again and help one aspect of life go on as normally as possible.
https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/01/14/world/covid19-coronavirus