At the press conference of the Crisis Center, virologist Steven Van Gucht from Sciensano presented an extensive study on the impact of the coronavirus on Belgian children under the age of 18. The Belgian study of children confirms that secondary infections occur less at school than at home, for example, and that children are less likely to be admitted to hospital.
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Admittedly, less testing was done in children than in adults, certainly at the beginning of the epidemic. That is because children fell ill less often and less seriously. “Despite the fact that there was less testing, we see that the percentage of positive tests is much lower than in adults. On average, this is 1.8 percent versus 6.3 percent for adults, ”says Van Gucht. “About 2.5 percent of all Covid cases were children, while they make up 20 percent of the population.”
“A total of 378 Covid cases were reported in schools, including 270 students and 108 staff.” The number of people who had to be quarantined is much higher. Only 1 percent of these people eventually developed Covid symptoms. It concerns 11 members of staff, who may have been infected at school. The students involved 36 children who probably contracted Covid at school. The percentage of secondary infections at school is very low. ”
Friday is D-day for education. The experts from the GEES sit together with the education sector to determine in which scenario the schools will open the gates on 1 September. In June it was decided to work with different color codes. Primary school children are allowed to go to their classes under all circumstances. In secondary school this is four days out of five with code yellow and only half-time with code orange or red.
(wle,evg)
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