get our daily coronavirus email newsletter with all the news you need to know direct to your inbox invalid email something went wrong, please try again later. sign up thank you for subscribing we have more newsletters show me see our privacy notice  there is no strong evidence that children under ten have passed coronavirus onto adults, researchers have suggested.  young children do not play a significant role in spreading the virus and are significantly less likely to become infected than adults, according to a review of existing research into covid-19 and children by the royal college of paediatricians and child health rcpch said.  it worked with other research teams to examine the correlation in studies of transmission from children to adults after public health officials in switzerland said today under-10s could finally hug their grandparents again as they pose no risk to them.  the review, by the don't forget the bubbles paediatric research project, stated: notably, the china/who joint commission could not recall episodes during contact tracing where transmission occurred from a child to an adult.  image: reuters  but the review also urged caution as it is still unknown whether children have passed on the virus, particularly given large numbers of asymptomatic cases.  a nine-year-old british boy who contracted coronavirus in a french alps did not pass it on, despite having contact with more than 170 people at three schools. this case was studied as part of the research.  dr alasdair munro, the clinical research fellow in paediatric infectious diseases who led the research, said: covid-19 appears to affect children less often, and with less severity, including frequent asymptomatic or sub-clinical infection.  there is evidence of critical illness, but it is rare.  the role of children in transmission is unclear, but it seems likely they do not play a significant role.  professor russell viner, the president of the rcpch, said: from around the world, we are not seeing evidence that children are involved in spreading or transmitting the virus, but we do not have enough evidence.  prof viner added that it was too soon to say children could hug their grandparents, particularly as the over-70s are the most vulnerable.  note: children are not believed to play a significant role in the spread of coronavirus. an earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that a study had found no cases of children passing coronavirus to an adult exist.
kids don't play a 'significant role' in spreading coronavirus to adults, research suggests