The increasing number of COVID-19 cases and it’s more severe presentation has been observed among children and is worrying parents, doctors who care for them and teachers who face them in the classrooms.
For the period 25 Jan 2020 till 30 May 2021, 82,341 children have been reported with COVID-19 infections, most of them in 2021. 27 children have been admitted to the ICU. And there have been a total of 15 deaths.
Unlike previously thought, more recent evidence have demonstrated that children and adults are equally susceptible and similarly likely to transmit the virus. [1,2,3]
Children are more likely to be asymptomatic compared to adults and therefore infections in children can be more difficult to detect and they are tested less often than adults. [4]
As is the situation presently, where community transmission of the coronavirus has increased, children and teenagers are becoming increasingly infected.
We cannot underestimate the role of infections in children, because they can spread the virus to their more vulnerable parents and grandparents who are at a higher risk of being hospitalized or mortalities.
School outbreaks have become more common reflecting the level of sporadic community transmission. Schools have become a driver of the COVID-19 infection in Europe, Canada and the UK. [5]
The UK government was criticized for its removal of the mandate for face coverings in secondary schools in England. [6] Public Health England was threatened with a legal challenge by The Citizens, for “unlawfully” withholding data on the spread of the delta variant in schools. [7] In Malaysia, the MOH gets away scot-free for withholding COVID-19 data, which has contributed to the abysmal handling of the pandemic
Meanwhile the MOE must seriously take the respite during this total lockdown to address the many issues related to COVID-19, schooling and tertiary education. There should be in place a sustainable COVID-19 strategy with science-based approach to mitigate and contain the outbreak within the educational sector. [8]
Among others, the mitigation strategy for re-opening schools must pivot on the following actions:
- Investment in improving ventilation and air filtration in schools
- Where possible, outdoor learning may further reduce this risk
- Mandatory masking in primary and secondary schools
- Reducing class sizes and strict adherence to class bubbles
- Hybrid learning with financial support for B40 families to ensure equity in education
We do not need to reinvent the wheel. There are many workable solutions which can be modified to suit our local needs. [9] The diagram below summarizes the various risk reduction strategies for re-opening schools.
From the outet, the Malaysian Pediatric Association have expressed their concerns to the MOE and have given feedback to the various MOE guidelines. [10] It goes without saying, take away his schooling and you have forever scarred his future. [11]
References:
- https://codeblue.galencentre.org/2020/05/23/the-science-of-reopening-our-schools-dr-musa-dr-thiyagar-malaysian-paediatric-association/
- https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.08.10.20169912v1
- https://science.sciencemag.org/content/370/6517/691
- https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.08.31.20183095v1
- https://www.ksdk.com/article/news/health/coronavirus/covid19-cases-st-charles-county-schools/63-6919ad62-bed5-40b9-8c6d-3f6a2a4284a5
- Gov.uk. Face coverings no longer required in schools and colleges from 17 May. 2021
- Silva CD. Government faces legal challenge over ‘unlawful’ suppression of Covid data in schools. The Independent. 2021
- https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.5694/mja2.50823
- Jones E, Young A, Clevenger K, et al. Schools for health: risk reduction strategies for reopening schools. Cambridge, MA: Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health Healthy Buildings Program, 2020; https://schools.forhealth.org/risk-reduction-strategies-for-reopening-schools/.
- https://codeblue.galencentre.org/2020/06/08/safety-profile-and-specifics-of-the-school-reopening-guidelines-need-strengthening-dr-amar-singh-dr-zulkifli-dr-hung-dr-wong/
- https://drmusanordin.com/2021/04/21/take-away-his-schooling-and-you-have-forever-scarred-a-childs-future/
Dr Musa Mohd Nordin
10 June 2021
