As the pandemic raged on over the last year, wearing a face mask became an important key to protecting oneself and others from spreading COVID-19—even in the case of children. While older individiuals, and those with pre-existing medical conditions (think: asthma, diabetes, heart disease) appear to be more vulnerable to becoming severely ill with the virus, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), kids can readily spread the infection to others unknowingly, since they typically have less serious symptoms.
“Children are less likely than adults to have severe illness or even show symptoms of COVID such as fever, cough, or shortness of breath,” says Sachin Nagrani, MD, medical director of Heal. Because kids infected with COVID are less likely to have these tell-tale symptoms, they can transmit the virus to others, he adds.
