(Washington) Hundreds of children contracted the coronavirus at summer camps last month in the US state of Georgia, health officials said Friday, new evidence that children are both susceptible to catch COVID – 19 and pass it on.
Posted on 31 July 2020 to 16 h 32
France Media Agency
The virus has infected at least 260 of 597 participants in this holiday camp, according to the Disease Prevention and Control (CDC), for whom the true figure is probably even higher since results were only available for 58% of the group .
The camp in question ignored CDC recommendations that all participants should wear sheet masks, and only asked its staff to put them on.
He had, however, obeyed a decree from the State of Georgia requiring all participants to test negative for COVID – 16, carried out at most 12 days before their arrival.
Other precautionary measures included physical distancing, frequent disinfection of surfaces, and keeping children in the same small groups.
The participants “took part in various indoor and outdoor activities”, including singing, the report says. They slept in cabins that accommodated up to 25 people.
On 19 June, a teenager, a staff member, left summer camp after feeling chills the day before. He then tested positive for coronavirus.
The camp began sending participants home on 23 June and closed the site on 27.
An investigation launched on 24 June discovered that 260 of 344 people for whom results were available had tested positive.
Of these, 74% had mild symptoms such as fever, headache and sore throat. The others had no symptoms.
These data come in addition to the growing evidence “showing that children of all ages are likely to be infected with Sars-CoV-2 and, contrary to initial information, could play an important role in transmission” , according to the authors of the CDC report.