5 Questions About COVID-19 and Kids Answered by Experts
5 Questions About COVID-19 and Kids Answered by Experts

5 Questions About COVID-19 and Kids Answered by Experts As schools across the country prepare for the return of students, there have been many conflicting statements about how COVID-19 could impact kids.

Here are expert answers to five of the most pressing questions about children's safety amid COVID-19.

1.

Can kids carry and spread COVID-19?

According to Dr. Lara Shekerdemian, chief of critical care at Texas Children’s Hospital, there’s “no doubt” kids can be carriers of COVID-19.

Shekerdemian says that because children are more likely to have mild symptoms, they’re more likely to unknowingly spread the virus.

2.

What age group is more at risk?

With wider testing available in the United States, doctors are seeing more kids from older age groups being brought to hospitals for COVID-19.

Although there’s no data to confirm her theory, Shekerdemian suspects teenagers and young adults are more likely to socialize as businesses reopen.

3.

Should my kids be wearing masks?

The CDC recommends all children ages 2 and older wear some sort of face covering.

When it comes to keeping their masks on, Shekerdemian believes that kids are more “conscious” than parents think and able to “adapt” to new norms quickly.

4.

Do kids have different symptoms than adults?

Children have been found to experience much milder symptoms, with the most common being cough, shortness of breath and fever.

They may also experience a loss of appetite or vomiting, or not display any symptoms at all.

5.

Are kids dying of COVID-19?

Dr. Megan Freeman of UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh says fewer than .5 percent of infected kids have died from COVID-19.

Freeman believes this is partially due to the decreased opportunity for young kids to socialize, as schools were quickly closed at the beginning of the pandemic.