Trump Says ‘Children Are At The Lowest Risk,’ But A New Study Suggests They Can Carry More Virus Than Adults

At his briefing just now, Trump said that “children are at the lowest risk” and young people are “almost immune” to the coronavirus. But a new study warns that young children may carry significant amounts of the coronavirus — with children under 5 potentially carrying up to 100 TIMES more virus than adults.

New York Times: Children May Carry Coronavirus at High Levels, Study Finds

By Apoorva Mandavilli

It has been a comforting refrain in the national conversation about reopening schools: Young children are mostly spared by the coronavirus and don’t seem to spread it to others, at least not very often.

But on Thursday, a study introduced an unwelcome wrinkle into this smooth narrative.

Infected children have at least as much of the coronavirus in their noses and throats as infected adults, according to the research. Indeed, children younger than age 5 may host up to 100 times as much of the virus in the upper respiratory tract as adults, the authors found.

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