In a terrifying new study released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, it was discovered that children who were likely infected with COVID-19 at three Utah daycare facilities brought it home to their family members — consequently, spreading it to both adults and siblings in their household.
Published last Friday, the research adds to the growing evidence that young children can still transmit the virus, even if they are not experiencing a severe case of the disease.
In their research, study authors observed three individual outbreaks.
All of the said outbreaks occurred within day care centers in Salt Lake City, Utah, where a total of 83 children were in attendance.
And between April and July, 12 of those children were ultimately infected with the coronavirus — 9 of them went on to develop mild symptoms, whereas another three remained asymptomatic.
The infections would lead to an additional 12 more transmission.
Researches then used data to “retrospectively construct transmission chains” to see how exactly the virus spread further thanks to meticulous contact tracing.
The infected children came into contact, in total, with 46 others not associated with the day care (family members, friends, etc.), and successfully transmitted it to more than a quarter of them — including six mothers (one of whom was hospitalized), three siblings, and three others not identified.
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And while how the children became infected is unconfirmed, the study authors note that “staff members at two of the facilities had a household contact with confirmed or probable COVID-19 and went to work while their household contact was symptomatic.”
The centers in addition did put some safety measures in place, such as temperature checks, and staff members were urged to wear masks.
But mask wearing was not mandatory and as the children were attending the daycares were so young — they were not required to wear them at all.
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