WHO Europe: The highest rate of COVID-19 infection in Europe is among children aged 5 to 14 years

The Paper's reporter Nan Boyi

On September 1, 2020, local time, in Vincennes, France, students wearing protective masks stood there listening to an official's lecture. Visual China Infographic

On December 7, local time, Hans Kluge, director of the European region of the World Health Organization, said that children aged 5 to 14 are currently the group with the highest rate of new crown infection in Europe.

According to the Associated Press reported on December 8, Krueger urged European countries to introduce corresponding measures as soon as possible to reduce the number of cases of new crown infection in children. He said that in some European countries and regions, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases among children aged 5 to 14 years is two to three times that of other populations. According to the Parisian newspaper, according to data from the end of November this year, there were a total of 2,300 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Children aged 5 to 14 in Austria; since the beginning of November, the number of confirmed CASEs of COVID-19 among children aged 6 to 10 in France has risen from 100 to 1,000.

However, children are less likely to develop severe illness after COVID-19 than the elderly, healthcare workers, and immunocompromised populations. "As the Christmas holidays approach, if children contract COVID-19, they are likely to transmit the virus to their parents and grandparents," Krueger said. If these adults have not been vaccinated, they are 10 times more likely to be severely infected with COVID-19 or die. In Krueger's view, primary schools in European countries should introduce measures such as wearing masks and ventilation to create a safe learning environment for children, while schools can avoid school closures or distance learning.

Previously, the European Union decided to vaccinate children between the ages of 5 and 11 from December 13 this year. The EU said that this move is mainly to respond to the increasingly severe epidemic situation in Europe in recent days. Krueger revealed that in the past month, there have been 10 million new confirmed cases of covid-19 and 120,000 deaths in Europe. He said the COVID-19 vaccine is still effective at this stage, but "mandatory vaccination should be a last resort."

Responsible editor: Zhu Runyu Photo editor: Zhang Tongze

Proofreader: Ding Xiao