Children's coronavirus cases are less severe, but that doesn't make them less serious

Young kids are well known to be germy. It’s easy for them to spread germs among each other just by passing toys around or drinking out of each other’s cups. But what’s interesting about the novel coronavirus is that kids seem to be particularly resilient to this virus. According to data from China, kids aren’t getting the virus in as high numbers, and even more importantly – when they do get it – the cases aren’t as severe. Out of nearly 45,000 confirmed cases in China through February 11, there was only one death in someone younger than 20, according to the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention. There were no deaths among children younger than 10. Another study of cases in China found that just 6% of children’s cases were considered to be severe, compared with 18.5% of adults experiencing severe symptoms.

But just because kids don’t present symptoms as severely doesn’t mean they aren’t spreading the disease. Dr. Arthur Reingold, an epidemiologist at UC Berkeley, said it's likely that the number of cases in children is underreported, in part because their symptoms are so minimal or mild. "We have to assume that they can spread it. They're incredibly efficient at spreading other respiratory viruses like influenza,” he said. “Of course, this is a different virus and it could be different.”

It’s that thinking that has pushed public officials to close schools across the country.