After-school activities are creating clusters where coronavirus can spread among children, said Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“We know that these increases are due, in part, to more highly transmissible variants, which we are very closely monitoring,” Walensky said Monday at the White House COVID-19 Response Team briefing.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, warned about the spread of Covid-19 among children who participate in youth sports.
Staying safe on the field
There may be a higher risk of Covid-19 transmission in informal settings like after-school activities and sports compared to formal settings because people may be more likely to let down their guard, said CNN Medical Analyst Dr. Leana Wen.
She recommends children play outdoors whenever possible and not share water bottles. Kids also need to be on high alert in locker areas and changing rooms.
Parents should educate themselves on their sports league’s protocols if a player tests positive, Wen said. Some questions she advises parents ask are, “Will they be contacted promptly if there is a positive case? How is contact tracing done?”
“With a more contagious variant, that means the activities we thought were safer are now going to be higher risk,” Wen said.
CNN’s Jen Christensen and Naomi Thomas contributed to this report.
2021-04-08 04:28:12
