(2/10) Note that this thread contains pre-print studies (not yet peer-reviewed, and should be interpreted cautiously), but which are from good teams and are likely sound.
(3/10) First, a recap showing that children can experience severe disease, and that children have probably been infected in schools in Australia, along with the ways in which this could occur.
(4/10) There is now clear evidence that in at least some settings (households, in this instance), children are as likely to be infected as adults.
(5/10) Data from routine testing in Germany show that the viral load of children and adults is similar, indicating that children may be as infectious as adults.
(6/10) The authors of the German study also noted that more cases have been seen in adults "for purely circumstantial reasons", such as the initial seeding of epidemics by adult travellers, and early school closures.
(7/10) In a study from Switzerland, infectious virus was isolated from nasopharyngeal swabs in children. The youngest child from which virus was successfully isolated was 7 days old. The authors conclude that transmission from children is plausible.
(8/10) In this study of a #COVID19 cluster in a high school in France, new cases dropped markedly when school holidays began, and again when wider community restrictions were introduced.
(9/10) The data clearly show that children have a similar risk of infection to adults in some situations (although generally experience more mild disease); can likely infect others; and that school closures appear effective in some settings.
(10/10) We should therefore approach the reopening of schools carefully, and do so only when the risk of community transmission is low. Random testing in the community could help determine the level of risk.
