DURBAN - One of the world’s leading infectious disease expert Dr Anthony Fauci, says available evidence shows that it is ‘young people’ who are 'driving this new surge' of Coronavirus infections.
“While the young may feel invincible and they’re right that most of them won’t get sick, they need to understand the role they play in making sure the virus keeps spreading to others with sometimes lethal consequences. They’re not going to get very sick. They know that,” said Fauci.
Another study conducted in South Korea showed that older children were more likely to spread Covid-19 within a household than younger children and adults.
Researchers traced and tested nearly 60,000 people who had contact with the infected people and found that, on average, 11.8 percent of household contacts tested positive for Covid-19, according to the early release of a study published on the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website.
The study comes on the heels of an intense debate about whether, when and how schools should resume classes. Working parents around the world have been struggling to balance their own remote work with the added complication of school closures. There is intense pressure on political leaders.
According to media reports, Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga is expected to make the decision on whether schools close or remain open over the coming days.
“Although the detection rate for contacts of preschool-aged children was lower, young children may show higher attack rates when the school closure ends, contributing to community transmission of Covid-19,”
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Although The study is more worrisome for children in middle and high school. This group was even more likely to infect others than adults were, the study found. But some experts said that finding may be a fluke or may stem from the children’s behaviours.
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