The head doctor of the AZ Sint-Lucas in Bruges asks, and Italy and France are already doing it: making mouth masks compulsory at school for children from the age of six. The rule now applies in Belgium from the age of 12. Does it make sense? No, Sciensano thinks.
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Dirk Bernard drew attention to his appeal earlier today because he saw three young children with a corona infection arrive at AZ Sint-Lucas in the past week.
“The percentage of children who get sick is probably relatively small,” he says The newspapaer. ‘But if the virus now rages through the schools and thus through the young people, now and then you have someone of that age category who ends up in the hospital.’
Virologist Steven Van Gucht confirmed this statement during the press conference of the Crisis Center. ‘In very exceptional cases, children end up in hospital,’ said Van Gucht. ‘Children represent a very small part of the admissions: 1.5 percent from 0 to 9 years old, and for 10 to 19 year olds this is 0.9 percent. This is slightly higher for the youngest children, they are admitted for observation a little faster out of caution. If we look at the total number of admissions, it therefore concerns less than 100 children under the age of 10 in the hospital, and less than 50 children under the age of 20. ‘
Yet yesterday France introduced a mandatory mouth mask at school from the age of 6. France went into a new lockdown from midnight, and therefore introduced a mouth mask obligation for very young students. Italy already imposed a mouth mask on all children from the age of six, at the start of the school year in September.
Will Belgium follow? Sciensano doesn’t believe it will help. “We think it is unlikely that children aged 6, 7 or 8 or even anyone under the age of 12 will wear mouth masks correctly all the time,” Van Gucht said. ‘The mask is very useful if we use it correctly. But if not done properly, it can sometimes even increase the risks. In our opinion it is not appropriate for such young children. ‘
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