Advice on the use of masks for children in the community in the context of COVID-19 [Document]

Although many pieces of evidence are collected by scientists on COVID-19, still the extent to which children contribute to the transmission of the virus remains unclear or not totally covered. According to the WHO global surveillance, 1-7% of COVID-19 cases are reported to be among children, with relatively few deaths compared to other age groups and according to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, 4% of all cases in the EU/EEA and the UK were among children.

Due to the insufficient evidence, we still do not know certainly if masks do really help on the issue or it causes more problems instead. People everywhere evaluate the importance of wearing masks for everyone, including children, even though a study founded out that children aged 5-11 years old were significantly less protected by mask-wearing compared to adults. In Japan, scientists realized that during seasonal viruses outbreaks the use of masks was more effective in higher school grades (9-12 years old) than lower grades (6-9 years old).

As the main conclusion we may say that the benefits of mask-wearing should be balanced with the side effects of keeping it.

Advice on the use of masks in children

• Children 0-5 years should not wear masks, because of the lack of capacity to use a mask properly;
• Children with severe cognitive impairments or respiratory difficulties should not be required to wear masks;
• Children aged 6-11 years, should use masks but with a risk-based approach;
• Adolescents 12 years or older should use masks as adults do;
• Children with disabilities should be given alternative options to mask-wearing, such as face shields;
• Children who belong to vulnerable or marginalized groups should take masks free of charge.

Masks used by children should be child-friendly. This means they must be produced with the right size, beautiful designs and colours, be easy to breathe through, etc.