Children are much less at risk of complications from COVID-19 than adults, a leading British health expert said Monday.
Shamez Ladhani, a consultant paediatrician at the UK Health Security Agency, said new data published Monday by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) should be reassuring for parents, clinicians and policy makers.
Ladhani, also chief investigator of the ONS study, said, "it is reassuring that the vast majority of primary and secondary school aged children surveyed since March 2020 have not experienced long COVID symptoms."
He said that as the findings show that children are much less at risk of complications from COVID-19 than adults, keeping children in school, where mental health support is available, remains vital.
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"This data provides important information about the potential direct and indirect impacts of COVID-19 on children and young people," said Patrick Nguipdop Djomo, co-chief investigator of the study at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM).
The study was jointly led by ONS, the LSHTM, and UK Health Security Agency.