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<p>Parents of school-aged children were very concerned that their children may catch COVID-19 if schools were reopened at Alert Level 3 despite no evidence supporting this view, a new University of Otago, Christchurch study reveals.</p>
<p>The survey of 1191 parents shows 79 per cent of participants believed it ‘likely’ or ‘very likely’ their child would catch COVID-19 from other children if schools were to reopen when there was widespread community transmission. Only 7 per cent thought it would be ‘unlikely’ or ‘very unlikely’.</p>
<p>More than 60 per cent of parents were either ‘extremely’, ‘very’ or ‘somewhat’ worried about their children catching COVID-19 at school, when surveyed just prior to schools reopening at Alert Level 2.</p>
<p>University of Otago, Christchurch Associate Professor Tony Walls, a paediatric infectious diseases expert, says the study results showed there was a real concern among parents that their children could catch COVID-19 at school.</p>
<p>“There appears to be a perception that children are very likely to transmit COVID-19 if they become infected and that schools are a high risk environment for transmission. The current evidence does not support this view and the risk appears to be very low.”</p>
<p>The survey was carried out because researchers wanted to understand where parents were getting information about COVID-19 and how anxious they were about children contracting the virus at school.</p>
<p>“The situation with COVID-19 developed very rapidly and was understandably quite a concern for parents, particularly when thinking about sending their children back to school after lockdown,” Associate Professor Walls says.</p>
<p>The results – which have been given to the Ministry of Education – show the most widely trusted source of information for parents was the live daily press briefings from parliament. Other government sources, particularly the dedicated COVID-19 and Ministry of Health websites, were also widely trusted.</p>
<p>Associate Professor Walls says evidence from New Zealand and overseas shows children generally have a milder COVID-19 disease course and better prognosis than adults. In New Zealand, none of the 80 children infected before the end of May required hospitalisation.</p>
<p>“In anticipation of schools reopening at Alert Level 2 there was public messaging about the very low risk of New Zealand children acquiring COVID-19 from other students. But at the same time there were frequent media reports of severe complications from COVID-19 occurring in children in other parts of the world,” Associate Professor Walls explains.</p>
<p>“These reports of emerging paediatric inflammatory multisystem syndrome seem to have caused widespread concern amongst parents, despite no established link between the syndrome and COVID-19.”</p>
<p>The paediatric infectious diseases expert says the study shows the need for ongoing clear and accurate communications from public health officials around the true risks to children of catching COVID-19 in schools.</p>
<p>The study canvassed parents on their willingness to vaccinate their children if a vaccine for COVID-19 was developed. A large proportion of parents (70 per cent) would get their children vaccinated.</p>
<p>“This may reflect confidence in New Zealand public health recommendations and the national immunisation programme,” Associate Professor Walls says.</p>

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