A new study conducted by experts from Public Health England, the University of Oxford, the Evelina children's hospital, King's College London and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, has concluded that children play a very "limited role" in the spread of coronavirus, The Telegraph reports.
The study looked at tests conducted for coronavirus, and found that around 4% of all children tested positive, as opposed to an average of around 27% of adults. However, when all age groups were accounted for, it emerged that children represented just 1.1% of all cases.
In addition, just eight deaths of children who tested positive for Covid-19 were confirmed during the study period, and for four of those, "another cause of death was identified." Furthermore, the authors of the study noted that, "There has been no increase in excess deaths in children aged 0-15 years until May 3."
They added that, "Sars-CoV-2 positivity was low even in children with acute respiratory infection ... Our findings provide further evidence against the role of children in infection and transmission of Sars-CoV-2."