Well, this is a bit of good news regarding the Covid-19 coronavirus:
Top virologist working on the coronavirus's genetic code told me people who get covid-19 and recover build up resistance to it. Children seem to be quite resilient. Danger is to the elderly. Mortality rate (especially over 80yrs) is higher than overcall average.
— Richard Engel (@RichardEngel) February 26, 2020
Via NBC News, “As the novel coronavirus spreads around the globe, doctors say very few children have been diagnosed with it. And of those who have, most have had mild cases:
As the novel coronavirus spreads around the globe, doctors say very few children have been diagnosed with it. And of those who have, most have had mild cases. https://t.co/5tuWqHFuun
— NBC News World (@NBCNewsWorld) March 5, 2020
But it would be nice if the experts could figure out why this is. From the article:
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The coronavirus’ mercy on children is a relief and a mystery to pediatric infectious diseases experts, who have a handful of working theories but no definitive answers for why.
“This is one of the unusual findings and curveballs that this virus keeps throwing at us,” said Dr. Frank Esper, a pediatric infectious diseases specialist at Cleveland Clinic Children’s, whose research focuses on viral respiratory infections and newly recognized infectious diseases. “Normal coronaviruses seem to affect children and adults equally, but this one, for whatever reason, certainly skews more to the adult population.”
China is seeing the same thing with its patients:
The Chinese Center for Disease and Prevention has released a #study saying that the elderly are the most at risk from the #coronavirus, while #children and the #youth are largely safe. #CoronavirusOutbreak #coronaviruschina #ChinaVirus pic.twitter.com/c8z5lshK7S
— The Daily Star (@dailystarnews) March 5, 2020
This news comes as almost 300 million kids are out of school worldwide to fight the spread of the virus:
Coronavirus leaves 290 million children out of school, UNESCO says https://t.co/T4drVgB8Nl
— Sky News (@SkyNews) March 5, 2020
Over in the UK, they’re talking about shutting down Parliament but keeping schools open, which might be OK?
Evidence so far suggests children either don't catch it or don't show symptoms. Shutting schools will mean an awful lot of people being off work, which would be v damaging to those in less secure jobs, & the wider economic impact.
MPs travel a lot, could spread coronavirus more https://t.co/KxTGuQNMtW
— Cat Neilan (@CatNeilan) March 5, 2020
There’s just so much the experts don’t know, even now.
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