Daniel Koch, head of infectious diseases at Switzerland’s Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH), said experts at universities in Zurich, Bern and Geneva had concluded that children under 10 did not transmit the virus, according to RTS.
“There is no indication that young children infect them and present a danger to them”, said Koch.
However, FOPH advises against children 10 years old and older having contact with their grand parents.
Koch said meetings should be brief, should not include contact with parents and should not involve babysitting, a contradiction some think could lead to confusion, particularly as schools are set to reopen on 11 May 2020.
The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control is more cautious. It says that “children appear as likely to be infected as adults, but they have a much lower risk than adults of developing symptoms or severe disease. There is still some uncertainty about the extent to which asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic children transmit disease.”
In Switzerland, 129 children less than 10 years old have tested positive for Covid-19, of which 22 were hospitalised.
More on this:
RTS article (in French) – Take a 5 minute French test now
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