MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 13th July, 2020) Michael Ryan, the executive director of the World Health Organization's (WHO) health emergencies program, said on Monday that high community transmission of COVID-19 means children will become involved in spreading the disease.
"When community transmission exists and when community transmission is intense, children will be exposed to this virus and children will be part of the transmission cycle," Ryan told a briefing while discussing reopening of schools.
The official added that such a decision has to be made by taking into account transmission in any given country and understanding risks in specific settings.
"There is quite a lot we still need to understand about transmission in children," Maria Van Kerkhove, the head of the WHO emerging diseases unit, said, adding that there were reports about outbreaks, mostly among older schoolchildren, in some countries that have already started reopen schools.
In order to halt the spread of COVID-19, many countries closed educational and child-care facilities to prevent them from turning into the virus' spreading grounds. As the countries began lifting their coronavirus measures, some opted for gradual reopening of schools as well.
