Dr. Nicole Saphier: Children Don’t Seem to Play a ‘Major Role’ in Transmitting COVID

EXCERPT:

SAPHIER: "I mean, so I have three boys, one is in college, one is going into 3rd grade, one is going into first grade. I will tell you, my two younger boys, they really have a hard time with the Zooming and they need to be able to have their teacher standing next to them and showing them how to do things. They need to be able to interact with those children on the playground. Zooming is not a long-term solution which is why the American Academy of Pediatrics does not recommend it. They do say we need to make sure we have that option, say a member of that child's family is homesick with COVID. We don’t want that child going into the school system. But we don’t want them to also be missing school. We want to make sure they have that option. But, listen, COVID is very different from the flu when it comes to children. Children play a major role in transmitting flu during flu season. It doesn’t seem like they have the same role when it comes to COVID-19. And we have to keep that in mind. This is not the same thing. Children are less likely to be severely affected and also less likely to transmit infection of COVID-19. So, really, it’s adults. We’re the ones responsible for transmitting this virus and we need to act accordingly to make sure we are reducing the risk so our children are not suffering because of it."