Only ONE healthy child has been killed by Covid-19 in Britain, reveals study - Daily Mail

Only one previously healthy child has died of coronavirus in England and children make up a fraction of cases, an official study reveals.

Eight children have died after testing positive for coronavirus in England, the study said, but in half these cases Covid-19 was not the main cause.

Of the other four children who died because of Covid-19, all aged between ten and 15, only one had no apparent previously diagnosed underlying health condition.

Lead author Dr Shamez Ladhani said: ‘Our results add to the growing body of evidence that children have a substantially lower risk of contracting Covid-19 than adults, and are also much less likely to become seriously unwell with the infection. .

The authors suggest children are less likely to get infected because their immune system reacts differently and because it is harder for the virus to invade their cells.

It is thought older children are more likely to be infectious than those at primary school, although health minister Edward Agar has insisted that research into the possible greater risk facing teenagers is still a ‘work in progress’.

Professor Russell Viner, president of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, said the PHE study ‘confirms international evidence that children and young people as a group are little affected by this virus’.

Lockdown restrictions are likely to have killed more children than the virus itself, experts warn.

British paediatricians have identified nine children who died of cancer or sepsis by the end of April after coming too late to hospital to receive effective treatment.

Even health bosses admit parents were probably late to bring their children to hospital because they were heeding the Government’s ‘Stay at Home’ message.

And the toll of lockdown is likely to rise for years to come, with many parents avoiding vital vaccination appointments for fear of exposing their children to the virus.

The six authors – who include SAGE members Dr Mary Ramsay, head of immunisations at Public Health England, and Professor Russell Viner, president of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health – point out that the risk to children from coronavirus itself has been minimal.