Reopen the schools or a generation will bear the mental health scars
Children's Covid symptoms are usually mild, but a lack of education can be severe
The plan for children to start returning to school in England has caused much debate about safety. Understandably, parents and teachers are worried about what this will mean for risk to children, and teachers are justifiably concerned about risk to themselves.
I'm a hospital paediatrician who has been looking after children and young people with Covid-19, and have seen children unwell with it (including the small group with the widely reported systematic inflammatory syndrome). I also have responsibility for the mental health of children, and work in child protection. Finally, I am a parent of three children.
When the UK went into lockdown, closing schools made some sense, based on the concern that children might be key drivers of infection in the population, as for other viruses like influenza. We also didn't know how children might be affected by the infection. But even then, many professionals working with children were very worried about the relative risk of them not being in school.
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