Children and COVID-19 Research Library

In the absence of an effective vaccine and/or treatment, COVID-19 remains pandemic. It is only public health measures, such as social distancing (and these included school closures), that have prevented millions of infections and deaths. School closures followed a precautionary principle in that many previous epidemics (e.g. influenza) were mainly transmitted by children. This is supported by few studies and yet, these closures have significantly impacted parents and children. We are now in September 2020, with public health restrictions being lifted in an attempt to attenuate the negative economic impact of the pandemic. The easing of restrictions has led to a resurgence of COVID-19 in a second wave of infections. In the meantime, summer school holidays are coming to an end in the northern hemisphere and it is salutary to review the effects on viral surges due to school openings thus far. This review shows that as schools open, outbreaks that affect both pupils and staff occur probably due to failure to adhere to public health principles: hand washing, distancing etc.

Kenya reported the first coronavirus case March 13th and since then the numbers have continued to increase mainly in the capital and the coastal towns of Mombasa and Kilifi but also in other parts of the country. Women and youth bear the largest impact especially because most of them are in vulnerable employment in the informal sectors, which has been hardest hit by the measures that government has proposed to try to curb the spread of the virus, and in turn, children are affected. This study seeks to understand if and how children in Dadaab continue to learn; and their level of knowledge and awareness towards COVID-19 so that appropriate measures can be taken to support them.

In response to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak, the Chinese Government has ordered a nationwide school closure as an emergency measure to prevent spreading of the infection. Public activities are discouraged. The Ministry of Education estimates that more than 220 million children and adolescents are confined to their homes; this includes 180 million primary and secondary students and 47 million preschool children). Thanks to the strong administrative system in China, the emergency home schooling plan has been rigorously implemented. Massive efforts are being made by schools and teachers at all levels to create online courses and deliver them through TV broadcasts and the internet in record time. The new virtual semester has just started in many parts of the country, and various courses are offered online in a well organised manner. These actions are helping to alleviate many parents' concerns about their children's educational attainment by ensuring that school learning is largely undisrupted.

This paper aims to document the likely direct and indirect impacts of the COVID-19 crisis in developed and developing countries. It also aims to identify potential urgent measures to alleviate such impacts on children. Thirty-three years after the UNICEF report, 'Adjustment with a Human Face', the authors warn of the effects of the pandemic which are likely to be considerable and comparable to the recession and debt crisis of the 1980s. The heavy costs for children can only be avoided with systematic and concerted efforts on the part of governments and the international community, to provide extensive financial and social support for the poor, and to invest in the health and education systems, in order to offset the negative impact of the virus-induced recession.