The Washington Post - USA (2020-08-02)

SUNDAY,AUGUST 2 , 2020 .THEWASHINGTONPOST EZ RE A

thecoronaviruspandemic

BYCHELSEAJANES

Anew reportsuggeststhat
children of all ages are suscepti-
ble to coronavirusinfectionand
mayalso spread it to others —a
finding likely to intensifyan
alreadyfraughtdiscussion about
the risks of sending children
backto schoolthisfall.
Theanalysis, releasedFriday
by the Centersfor DiseaseCon-
trolandPrevention,details an
outbreakat aJunesleep-away
campin Georgiain which
childrenand staffers —more
thanthree-quartersofthe 344
tested —contracted the virus
less thanaweek after spending
timetogether in closequarters.
Thechildrenhadamedianage
of 12. Thecamphad requiredall
597 campersand staffmembers
to providedocumentationthat
theyhad tested negative for the
virusbeforecoming. Staffwere
required to wear masks, but
children werenot.
While similar clusters have
occurredaroundfunerals, wed-
dings,teenageparties and adult
gatheringsthroughoutthe pan-
demic, fewsuper-spreading
events have beendocumented
amongchildren.
Thereportislikely to add fuel
to an alreadypolarizing nation-
widediscussion aboutwhether
sendingchildren backto crowd-
ed school buildingsis worth the
risk,in largepartbecause so
little data has been available
aboutchildren’s vulnerabilityto
the infectionand theirability to
transmitthe virus.
“Tome, thisis asignificant
weightaddedto the sideof the
scalethatsaysclose the schools,”
said AndrewNoymer, an epi-
demiologistatthe Universityof
CaliforniaatIrvine. Whilehe
added thatchildren probably
spendmoretimein closeprox-
imityatsleep-awaycampthan
theydoatschool, “it’s solid
evidenceto suggest we shouldbe
extremely cautious aboutopen-
ing schools.”
TheTrump administration
haspushedinrecentweeksfor
schoolsto reopen,whilemany
states and majorcities —includ-
ing D.C.—have announcedthey
will resumeonline-onlytobegin
the year.“Idosay again,young
peopleare almostimmuneto
thisdisease. Theyounger the
better,” President Trump said
ThursdayduringaWhite House
briefing.“They’restronger.They
have astronger immune sys-
tem.”
Advocates of reopening

schoolsfor in-personinstruction

arguethatearlyresearchshows

children are less proneto infec-

tionandsevereoutcomesfrom

the virusthanadultsare. While

data continues to supportthat

idea, little had been known

aboutthe extentto whichchil-

drencouldtransmitit—particu-

larlywhen theyare not showing

symptoms.

Accordingto the reportre-

leasedFriday, the outbreakat

the camp, identified only as

“CampA,”suggeststhatchildren

“mightplayanimportantrole in

transmission.”

“Thesefindingsdemonstrate

thatSARS-CoV-2 spreadeffi-

cientlyin ayouth-centric over-

nightsetting,resultingin high

attackrates amongpeoplein all

agegroups, despiteefforts by

camp officials to implement

most recommendedstrategiesto

preventtransmission,”the re-

portsaid.

“Asymptomatic infectionwas

common and potentially con-

tributed to undetected transmis-

sion, as has been previously

reported. This investigation

adds to the bodyof evidence

demonstrating thatchildren of

all ages are susceptible to SARS-

CoV-2 infection.”

TheCDC releasedaseparate

statementwithaheadline about

“the importanceof CDCmitiga-

tion strategies,”rather than

aboutthe incident’s implica-

tionsfor viral transmissionin

children.Thestatementnoted

thatbynot requiringcampers to

wearmasksor airingout cabins,

the camphad not followed CDC

reopening guidance,and it

pointed to “daily vigoroussing-

ing andshouting”aspotential

contributing factors.

“Correctand consistentuse of

clothmasks,rigorouscleaning

and sanitizing,socialdistancing,

and frequent hand-washing

strategies, which are recom-

mendedinCDC’s recentlyre-

leasedguidanceto reopenAmer-

ica’sschools,are critical to pre-

venttransmission of the virusin

settingsinvolvingchildrenand

are our greatesttoolsto prevent

covid-19,”the statementread.

Caitlin Rivers,an epidemiolo-

gistatJohnsHopkinsUniversity,

wrotein an emailthatshe would

liketosee data from camps

wherechildrenworemasksand

whethertheyfaredbetter.

“Tome, this outbreak re-

inforcesthe importanceof miti-

gationmeasuresinclassrooms

andchild-caresettings,”Rivers

wrote. “Physical distancing,

maskuse by studentsand teach-

ers, hygieneand ventilationwill

allbecriticalto reducingrisk for

classroomsthatdoreopen in

person.”

Noymeralsonotedthatmany

school officials saytheywill

requirestudents, as well as

teachers,towear masks. But

skepticspointout that children

are unlikely to be diligent mask-

wearers or socialdistancers,so

reopeningplans thatinclude

thosemeasures in theorymay

not have theminactuality.

Authors of the CDC report

notedthatthe study was limited

by its data set, whichincludes

testsofonly 344 of the campers

and staffers,and therefore could

be missing cases.In addition,

since Georgia experienced a

jump in coronavirus transmis-

sion over the summer,some

campers mayhavecaught the

virusbeforearriving.The CDC

reportacknowledged thatit

could not determine which

campers did and did not adhere

to recommendationsfor physi-

cal distancing,whichalsolimits

the kindof conclusionsthatcan

be drawnfromthe data.

Tara Smith, an epidemiologist

at Kent State University, ac-

knowledged thatsome data

missing fromthe study—in-

cluding detailed tracking of

whichinfectedchildren spent

time around others and for how

long—limitsthe extent to which

the studycan be usedto draw

specific conclusions, but it does

suggest thatmore outbreaks

could center on children the

moretheyare in closeproximity.

“I thinkwhatitshowsis that

kidsdefinitelycan be infected

withthis,apparentlycan spread

this,”Smith said.“I thinkwhen

we getkids backintotheir

normalsocialnetworks, we’re

going to see moreof these.”

TheGeorgia camphad opened

in twophases, accordingtothe

report: An orientationfor 138

trainees and 120 staffers oc-

curredJune 17 throughJune 20.

Atotal of 363 campersand three

senior staffers joined on June 21.

On June 23, ateenagestaffer left

after developingchillsandsub-

sequentlytested positive for the

coronavirus.

Campofficialsbegansending

campers home June 24 and

closedthe camponJune 27.

Of thosewhoweretested and

cameup positive, 231 wereage

or younger; the remaining 29

wereadults.Dataaboutsymp-

tomswasavailablefor only 136

patients:Aboutaquarter,or

people,reported no symptoms;

100 childrenand staffmembers

(74percent)reported symptoms,

including fever (65 percent),

headache (61 percent) andsore

throat(46 percent).

[email protected]

Report: Hundreds of children, sta≠ers caught virus at Ga. sleep-away camp

ETIENNELAURENT/EPA-EFE/SHUTTERSTOCK

Areportreleased Friday by theCenters for DiseaseControl andPreventionsuggests childrenare susceptible to thecoronavirus andmay

playan“important role” in transmission.Itcomesamidanationwidedebate on whether its safetosendchildren backto crowded schools.

Newcoronaviruscases and deaths in the U.S., by day

CASES DEATHS

151,

Total

4,592,45 6

Total

As of 8p.m. Saturday

Feb. 29 Aug. 1 Feb. 29 Aug. 1

0

2,

2,

1,

1,

500

1,

60,

0

10,

20,

30,

40,

50,

60,

70,

7-day

average

7-day

average

(202) 919-

(703) 650-

(301) 778-

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