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Swiss authorities say there is no danger of children under the age of 10 hugging their grandparents, in a revision of the official recommendations on the coronavirus.

The head of the Infectious Diseases Division of the Federal Office of Public Health (OFSP) and face of the fight against Covid-19 , Daniel Koch , said last Monday that scientists have concluded that the youngest children did not transmit the virus Therefore, he was in favor of their having contact with their grandparents (the group most at risk against the disease).

" Older people are already suffering greatly as well as depriving them of hugging their grandchildren when it has been established that the little ones do not pose a danger to them," said Dr. Koch, who specified that the contact should be brief and not imply that the grandparents will take care of the children.

Switzerland is one of the European countries that have started to implement de-escalation. This week, hairdressers have been able to open their doors while schools and stores that do not sell food or basic necessities can reopen within two weeks.

Dr. Koch stated that the official advice, and shared by the vast majority of health authorities around the world, regarding which children and their grandparents should keep their distance to avoid infections, was made when there was less information about the one that now exists about how the coronavirus was transmitted.

" Young children do not transmit the virus, " said Koch. "They just don't have the receptors to contract the disease." For Koch, many grandparents "live to see their grandchildren" and that contact is vital to their mental health. This expert affirmed that it was not the children who represented a risk for the older relatives, but their parents.

Thus, this revision of the official guidelines in Switzerland comes after consultations with experts at the universities of Zurich, Bern and Geneva, as reported by the Swiss broadcaster SRF.

The new advice applies to young children who show no signs of illness, while older children should still avoid contact with grandparents.

According to the BBC, not all experts agree with this revision of the Swiss hell guidelines. For example, through a message, the German virologist and senior advisor on the coronavirus, Christian Drosten, told the Austrian radio station ORF that there was insufficient data to conclusively state that young children do not transmit the virus. According to Drosten, studies to date have reached mixed conclusions about how younger children contract and spread the virus.

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