Students wearing protective masks raise their hands in class as a distance lecturer teaches at a public hearing in Provo, Utah, US, on Thursday, August 20, 2020.
George Frey | Bloomberg via Getty Images
The World Health Organization warned Thursday that a growing body of evidence suggests children are playing a role in the spread of Covid-19, but classrooms are not thought to be a “major contributor” to the pandemic.
It comes as students prepare to return to school in person and online after the summer holidays, with authorities in the US, Europe and elsewhere trying to orchestrate a delicate balancing act.
Many question whether re-starting the new academic year with robust mitigation measures could be worth the risk to students, teachers and families, with a view to keeping schools closed could increase learning gaps exposed by lockdown measures.
During a press briefing on Thursday, Hans Kluge, regional director for Europe at the WHO, said that, until now, school institutions had not been a “major contributor” to the pandemic.
“There are also more and more publications that add to the body of evidence that children play a role in transmission, but that this, so far, is more linked to social gatherings,” Kluge said.
“That, this is one of the unknown, but absolutely top priorities for the policy makers at the World Health Organization.”
To date, more than 24.2 million people have contracted the coronavirus worldwide, with 826,368 related deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
“It’s a difficult moment now, as we move from summer to autumn with three phenomena coming together,” said Kluge, reflecting on the challenges facing European countries in the coming weeks.
He mentioned the reopening of schools, the upcoming flu season, and the surplus of deaths among parents seen in the winter.
“So, wait is really the key word,” he said.
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