A health expert on Wednesday said it might not look like it, but minors posed a public-health risk if they turned out to be asymptomatic carriers of the novel coronavirus 2019.
Dr. Jocelyn Alonzo Eusebio, president of the Philippine Pedriatric Society, brought up the topic amid a debate whether to allow those aged 17 years old or younger to be at malls.
“It may not be symptomatic because there are many observations that COVID-19 infections in children are not serious, but they can be carriers,” Eusebio said in a Teleradyo interview.
“And if they go home and they have housemates who are immuno-compromised grandparents, who are relatives, they will definitely get that infection.”
(They might be asymptomatic since there are observations that COVID-19 infections among children aren’t severe, but they might turn out to be carriers. And if they have relatives at home who are immuno-compromised like their grandparents, there might be transmissions .)
Eusebio said the problem with asymptomatic carriers is that they are hard to trace. “It is not possible to record that they also have. They are also not tested,” she said.
(They are not recorded cases, so they won’t even be tested.)
Metro Manila mayors on Wednesday unanimously voted not to allow minors outside of their homes, including going to malls, despite eased lockdown restrictions, because of the lingering threat of the COVID-19, according to the MMDA.
The decision was based on the recommendation made by health experts.
Eusebio said she hoped it would become a nationwide policy although it was up to local government officials.
“It is true that our young people are very bored, because children are supposed to be active going around, in case they are confined inside their house so such emotions are understandable,” she said.
“[Pero] we always keep in mind the benefit will outweigh the risk. That is what we always keep in mind, especially the parents. “