Many people are worried about the impact that SARS-Co 19 virus or Coronavirus 19 (COVID19) may have on their children.
To date there have been very few cases of COVID19 in children reported, with low numbers of 16 children under 10 years of age in NSW at this posting. This appears to correspond with low reported numbers from overseas studies. Also children appear not to have as severe disease from the Chinese population studies. Children still get the virus but do not appear to have as severe disease compared to the other usual high risk groups such as the older population over 70 years of age.
A recent ABC science report has Prof Collignan, a world Infectious Disease specialist summarising some of these finding in children
https://www.abc.net.au/news/health/2020-03-24/coronavirus-covid-babies-pregnancy-children-kids/12080892
Some other good news is that there have not been reported cases of transmission of the virus to babies in the womb from their mothers.
However for some children caution should still be displayed if your child has chronic asthma, diabetes, less than 12 months of age or are immunocompromised. Good attention to washing hands after toileting, before eating and when outside the home is important.
Social distancing is now a compulsory recommendation for the foreseeable future and can be very hard for little children to understand why they can’t see grandma or grandpa.
