"We did see low transmission," but "we didn't see no transmission," Macartney said. "I think children can still transmit coronavirus. That's certainly the case. We've seen that."
Further, Gary Wong, a researcher in pediatric respiratory medicine at the
Chinese University of Hong Kong, said widespread school closures and a comparatively lower rate of testing for the new coronavirus among children could contribute to the low number of reported cases of Covid-19 among the group.
Wong added that, since plenty of other respiratory viruses can transmit between adults and children, it would be odd if the new coronavirus didn't have some level of transmission between the groups, as well.
"I don't believe this virus is an exception," Wong said. "As long as there is community transmission in the adult population, reopening of schools will likely facilitate transmission, as respiratory viruses are known to circulate in schools and day cares."
What the findings mean for moving forward
In light of the conflicting evidence, some health officials are waiting for more research results before reopening schools and easing social distancing restrictions for children.
CDC warns that all people with Covid-19, including those with mild cases of the disease and children, "can still pass this virus onto others who may be at higher risk, including older adults and people who have serious underlying medical conditions."
And while the
European Center for Disease Control and Prevention (ECDC) has
said data indicates that "children are unlikely to be primary source cases" for Covid-19, Alexandru Niculae, a spokesperson for the agency, told
Vox that the data currently available "cannot be considered as 'enough evidence'" to definitively state that children cannot transmit the disease.
According to
Nature, countries that are reopening schools will serve as test cases. If children are contributing to the new coronavirus' spread, Covid-19 cases likely will spike in those countries as they return to school.
But some health experts argue that shouldn't be the case.
"Are any of these studies definitive? The answer is 'No, of course not,'" said Jeffrey Shaman, an epidemiologist at
Columbia University who was not involved in the studies. As such, "to open schools because of some uninvestigated notion that children aren't really involved in this, that would be a very foolish thing," Shaman said ...