More research is needed into factors that increase the risk of severe COVID-19 disease among children and adolescents, said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Since the start of the COVID pandemic, understanding its effects on children has been a priority, said Tedros joining the heads of the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), at a press conference on Tuesday.
He added that while children may have largely been spared many of the most severe effects, they have suffered in other ways.
“Nine months into the pandemic, many questions remain, but we are starting to have a clearer picture. We know that children and adolescents can be infected and can infect others”, he said.
“We know that this virus can kill children, but that children tend to have a milder infection and there are very few severe cases and deaths from COVID-19 among children and adolescents.”❐
