Q&A: Why are experts split on Covid risks to schoolchildren?

However, other experts, including those on the National Public Health Emergency Team (Nphet), have said the risks can be mitigated. 

We had schools open before, so what's different?

Professor Cliona Ni Cheallaigh, an infectious diseases consultant, warned: “If I were a betting woman, I would probably be betting that most kids in Ireland under 12 will be getting Covid before the spring, the way we’re going on now.” 

However public health consultants working with the schools, including Dr Abigail Collins, say data from educational settings over the summer is less worrying. 

She said: “The picture that we have seen over the summer in terms of close contact positivity has not changed. The reason for that is how good people are with their mitigation measures.” 

New data from the Health Protection Surveillance Centre shows rising rates of summer infections slowed when schools reopened. 

Test results up to last Thursday showed a decreasing positivity level at 6%, even though children made up 45% of swabs taken by the weekend.

How many Irish children have contracted Covid-19?

Up to September 6, there were 70,620 cases, including 13,553 under fours, 25,570 five to 12-year-olds and 31,487 teens. Altogether, this is 5.6% of under-18s.

The latest advice indicates infection carries immunity for nine months. Last week, just over 67% of cases were adults, with children aged five-12 making up the next largest group at 14.2%.

Are there children in hospital with Covid-19?

On Sunday, there was one Covid patient in Crumlin and one in Temple Street, but not in ICU. 

The previous Sunday there were three Covid patients in Temple Street and two in Crumlin, none in ICU. The same HSE data shows one child in a paediatric ICU bed in the last two weeks, but in smaller hospitals, children are sometimes placed in adult beds. 

Social media has lit up with heartbreaking stories of children in American ICUs. Vaccination rates and public health measures are significantly lower in the US than here, with the HSE saying this should mitigate the situation.

What is being done to help schools? 

Yesterday, HSE testing lead Niamh O’Beirne said the process for principals has now been simplified, which will speed up contact tracing.

The Department of Education will have delivered 35,000 carbon dioxide monitors to schools by the end of September. 

Dr Collins said even though Delta is more transmissible, the same public health measures work. Schools are in many ways unrecognisable, with strict drop-off times and pods. 

But writing in the Irish Examiner in July, paediatrician Dr Niamh Lynch said: “Opening a window in a classroom will not provide the ventilation needed to keep Delta at bay. Children need more space, better ventilation, better mitigation.” 

What about masks? 

Secondary school students wear masks, but the current advice for under-12s is not to wear masks. 

An expert advisory group told Nphet in April, before the Delta wave, that the drawbacks of wearing masks outweighed the benefits. This remains counter-intuitive to many parents as they send masked 13-year-olds to school but younger siblings appear less protected.

What symptoms mean a child should stay at home?

There is confusion about this as advice slightly differs. 

The Department of Education listed 11 symptoms advising, “if your child has any of the following symptoms do not send them to school”. 

However, the HSE and many GPs advise if the child only has a runny nose without other symptoms they can go to school.

What happens next? 

One thing every expert agrees on is keeping thousands of asymptomatic children out of school is not tenable, neither for the children nor their parents.

Nphet meets this week to discuss whether asymptomatic children could continue going to school even if they are a close contact, as vaccinated children already do.

This week, Northern Ireland eased rules around close contacts in schools, saying "there is a balance to be struck in terms of risk".