Kids 'less likely to catch coronavirus in the classroom than at home', claims study

18 August 2020, 11:35

Research from Belgium's national health body found that Covid-19 has a vanishingly low transmission rate at schools.

A major new study has found that kids are less likely to catch coronavirus in the school classroom than at home.

According to The Sun, The research - conducted by Belgium's national health body - found that coronavirus has a vanishingly low transmission rate at schools.

Read more: Dr Hilary Jones says young adults are 'driving coronavirus pandemic'

Experts at the Sciensano institute found 0.8 per cent of pupils quarantined under contact tracing rules caught Covid-19.

And of the 4,472 kids up to the age of 18 who put into self-isolation, 36 are thought to have become infected at school.

In addition, of the 243 staff who were put into self-isolation, 11 came down with the illness.

Schools in England are due to reopen in two week's time, so this study may prove reassuring to many concerned parents.

Belgium's state virologist Steven Van Gucht said of the findings: "We can say that the percentage of secondary infections at school is very low."

Experts from the European Centre for Disease Control also said: "child-to-child transmission in schools is uncommon".

Read more: New coronavirus hotspots in England at risk of local lockdown

They added: "Current evidence suggests that schools are no different from any other communal environment in terms of the risk of spreading the virus."

Dr Josep Jansa also said: "It is important for children and for the normal functioning of society that schools open in good time."

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