Fighting Covid-19: Q & A – Part 20
The novel coronavirus is highly infectious and early testing results help reduce the risk of transmission. Through various efforts, China has rapidly improved its capacity and efficiency in novel coronavirus testing. Hubei province can test up to 10,000 people per day under full working capacity. The nucleic acid test results can be obtained within about two hours. At the same time, measures were taken to guarantee low-cost access to testing for potential infectors.
First, teenagers and children are vulnerable to COVID-19 infection. Admittedly, data on individuals aged 18 years old and under suggest that there is a relatively low attack rate in this age group. For them, the disease appears to be comparatively mild or even asymptomatic. Yet it is not possible to tell from available data whether children are less susceptible or if they present differently clinically.
Second, behavioral and hygiene habits of young children increase virus transmission risks. Young children are normally unable to abide by the strict requirements of COVID-19 prevention and control. It is very hard for them to keep appropriate social distance, wash hands and wear face masks in a medically correct way. Cross infection could therefore easily occur among young children.
Third, high crowd density in campuses and classrooms results in higher cross infection risks. COVID-19 is transmitted via droplets and fomites during close contact. In a country where the student population is very large, crowd density in campuses is high. In 2018, there were 518.8 thousand schools in China with 276 million students enrolled and 16.7 million teachers employed. School shutdowns prevent virus spread among students and teachers by avoiding mass activities and crowd gatherings.
Fourth, starting a new semester may cause cross-region transmission because the populous group of higher education students need to travel back to campuses from everywhere home and abroad. Higher education students in China total 3.8 million. In Wuhan alone, there are more than 1.2 million college students. On one hand, dormitory and canteen disinfection present a huge challenge to higher education institutions.
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