Closure of all schools reduced COVID-19 transmission significantly — DOH official

The closure of all schools following the threat of the COVID-19 pandemic reduced the transmission of the virus significantly, the Department of Health (DOH) Technical Advisory Group (TAG) said Thursday.

At a press conference, DOH-TAG’s Dr. Anna Ong-Lim cited a study showing the impact of non-pharmaceutical interventions to the prevention of COVID-19 transmission.

“Ipinapakita nila na closing all educational institutions, limiting gatherings to 10 people or less, closing face-to-face businesses reduced transmission quite significantly,” Lim said.

For her, both children and adults can catch the disease and spread the virus regardless of their age.

“In this current setting where ang ating pansin ay nakatuon doon sa pag-iwas sa surge, maganada na siguruhing mag-ingat sa pagkilos, kasama na rin sa pag-iingat sa pagkilos ng mga bata,” she said.

On Wednesday, Education Secretary Leonor Briones said students are more likely to contract COVID-19 at home than in school as the government prepares for the dry run of face-to-face classes in January.

Briones made the remark after she was asked during a televised briefing whether the decision to hold a dry run could put students at risk of infection.

“Sinasabi na lahat ng pag-aaral nagpapakita na ang pinaka-lowest threat ay sa schools. Ang malaking posibilidad ay sa homes kasi that is where they spend most of their time and other places,” Briones said citing a report by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF).

Early this month, UNICEF urged governments to “prioritize reopening schools and take all actions possible to make them as safe as possible” since a recent global study using data from 191 countries “showed no association between school status and COVID-19 infection rates in the community.”

Lim said that there are a lot of studies that should be made about COVID-19 in children. But, she noted that it is already known that children can also catch and spread the disease. — RSJ, GMA News