Children Vulnerable to Coronavirus Disease

The reopening of schools in the middle of a pandemic is considered to pose a high risk of Covid-19 transmission because children are vulnerable to contracting and transmitting the coronavirus that causes the disease.

KOMPAS/SUCIPTO

A child cries as a health worker in PPE takes a nasopharyngeal swab sample during a mass testing program on Thursday (30/7/2020) at Rapak Market in Muara Rapak village of North Balikpapan district in the city of Balikpapan, East Kalimantan.

JAKARTA, KOMPAS – The number of Covid-19 cases in young people is increasing globally. Recent studies have shown that children under the age of five have greater levels of genetic material of coronavirus in their respiratory tract, which causes Covid-19, compared to older people. The finding should be taken into consideration in the plan to reopen schools.

"The latest data show that more and more children are suffering from Covid-19. This must be taken into account in the decision to reopen schools. Moreover, the Covid-19 infection rate in children in Indonesia is higher than the global average, " Yogi Prawira, head of the Covid-19 task force of the Indonesian Pediatric Society (IDAI) said in Jakarta on Thursday.