With coronavirus cases around the world now at one million, fears about the spread of the disease are now widespread.
Now, a new study has warned that coronavirus-infected children may be endangering public health by secretly spreading the disease.
Researchers from Ningbo Women and Children's Hospital in Zhejiang have analysed the effect of asymptotic child patients on the wider public.
In the study, the team looked at 36 cases of children under the age of 16 who tested positive for COVID-19.
Of those cases, 28% were asymptomatic, while another 19% only had mild symptoms.
In the study, published in The Lancet, the researchers, led by Haiyan Qiu, wrote: “Although fever, dry cough, and mild pneumonia are common manifestations, nearly half of patients have neither obvious symptoms nor abnormal radiological findings.”
Worryingly, the researchers say this indicates that children could be spreading the virus despite not showing nay symptoms.
The researchers added: “Although all paediatric patients in our cohort had mild or moderate type of COVID-19, the large proportion of asymptomatic children indicates the difficulty in identifying paediatric patients who do not have clear epidemiological information, leading to a dangerous situation in community-acquired infections.”
The study comes shortly after Boris Johnson warned grandparents not to look after children when schools shut.
The PM said: "I also need to remind parents, as we have already advised, that children should not be left with older grandparents or older relatives who may be particularly vulnerable, or fall into some of the vulnerable groups.
"I know that is going to be difficult too, and I want to thank families for their sacrifice at this difficult time.
"And I want to thank the whole country for the efforts people are making to comply with these measures."
