The White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany has said that children should go back to school even if it turns out that they are transmitting the deadly novel coronavirus. The statement came amid President Donald Trump's efforts to re-open US schools, which closed in the spring when the coronavirus first began spreading across the country. Teachers and families are concerned that children could contract or transmit the disease if they return to classrooms.
'Children Not Affected as Same an Adult'
"Even if there is transmission and later studies come out, let's say, we believe that students should be going back to school because the effect on a child we know - scientifically, they are not affected in the same way as an adult," McEnany said in answer to a press briefing question about comments made by Dr. Deborah Birx, a member of the White House coronavirus task force, Reuters reported.
Birx told the television program "Today" on Friday that it is "still an open question" how rapidly children under the age of 10 spread the illness.
She cited a South Korean study that children younger than 10 transmit the virus less, while those older than 10 have the same rates of passing it as adults. Birx also said that children with underlying conditions can "suffer terrible consequences" if they contract the disease.
(With Inputs from Reuters)
