Children between 0-14 years less affected by Covid-19,no plan formulated for them :Centre

New Delhi: Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on Friday said that as per an analysis done by the Centre, children within the age group of 0-14 years are less affected by the Covid-19 virus and that most of them remain asymptomatic.

“Hence no specific action plan has been formulated in the current response phase to minimise the adverse effects of COVID-19 on such children,” Vardhan told the Lok Sabha in a written response.

The Health Minister said that “very rarely a severe illness, in the form of a multi-system inflammatory syndrome, has been identified, and that this happens usually three to six weeks after the infection”.

“The Department of Pediatrics at AIIMS is documenting the long term effect of Covid-19 infection in children,” Vardhan told the Lower House of Parliament.

He made the remarks while responding to a question on whether the central government had devised any action plan to minimise the adverse impacts of Covid-19 in children aged 0-14 years.

“For appropriate management of Covid-19 cases, a three-tier arrangement of health facilities has been implemented – Covid Care Centre with isolation beds for mild or pre-symptomatic cases, Dedicated Covid Health Centre (DCHC) with oxygen supported isolation beds for moderate cases and Dedicated Covid Hospital (DCH) with ICU beds for severe cases,” the Health Minister stated.

He added that guidelines on the clinical management of Covid-19 have been issued that provide for management of complications, news agency PTI reported.

When asked whether the Centre has made any assessment of adverse impacts of Covid-19 on the mental health of children, or has provided any psychological support through professionals, Vardhan clarified that the Ministry of Education has initiated ‘Manodarpan’, a programme that covers a range of activities that provide psycho-social support to students, teachers and families for their emotional well-being and mental health