Education
The World Health Organization recommends children 12 years of age to wear masks to avoid coronavirus spread
The World Health Organization has provided guidelines on children's face masks, as students — at least in certain parts of the country — return to their classrooms to start a new school year. Children 5 and younger should not be allowed to wear masks, says the WHO, as most are unable to wear masks without assistance.
Children between 6 and 11 years of age can, however, wear masks under certain circumstances, including local infection rates, whether an adult is present to support them, and if they are exposed to elderly people or people with health problems at higher risk of virus complications.
Kids 12 and older will wear masks under the same circumstances as adults should wear, according to the standard guidelines on social distance, WHO said in its report.
WHO Worked with UNICEF, the International Pediatric Association and other health agencies and experts to provide advice. Their results emphasize that there is little knowledge of how coronavirus is transmitted in children, but that some data suggests that younger children "may have a lower susceptibility to infection relative to adults," but that this may differ by age. Older children may be more likely to transmit the virus than younger ones, according to WHO.
In addition, the WHO advises that the benefits of children wearing masks to prevent the spread of COVID-19 "should be weighed against the potential harm associated with wearing masks, including feasibility and discomfort, as well as social and communication concerns."
According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, there were more than 75.000 new cases of coronavirus in children between July 30 and August 13, an rise of 24 per cent in the number. As of last month, more than 340,000 children tested positive, about 9% of the overall number of diagnoses in the US.
Health experts agree that there are very few medical reasons to prohibit most people from wearing face cloths. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ( CDC) reported in a July 14 update that cloth face coverings are a crucial resource in the battle against COVID-19 that could minimize the spread of the disease, adding that there is the evidence that cloth face coverings help prevent people who have COVID-19 from spreading the virus to others.
