Face masks for young children significantly reduce the spread of Covid, study finds

Oblige young children to carry face masks is an effective way to limit the number of Covid cases in nurseries so they can stay open, a study has found.

Yale University researchers found that when children aged two to six wore masks in US daycares, they were 14% less likely to be closed following an outbreak of virus.

They argue that face masks therefore offer a considerable benefit to young children, which outweighs any discomfort on the part of the child by reducing the risk of their care center being closed so that they can maintain their routine.

But there is strong opposition to face masks for young children from other settings, such as the National Day Nurseries Association in the UK, where masks have never been worn in nurseries except by staff – and only then when in staff rooms, away from children.

Thomas Murray, of Yale New Haven Children’s Hospital and lead author of the study, said: “We have seen an increasing number of children, especially young children who cannot yet be vaccinated, admitted to our children’s hospital.

“It is encouraging to know that mask-wearing for children two years and older can be an effective way to keep them in child care programs and potentially reduce their risk of covid.”

“Socially there is the wider issue of having isolated children unable to come together safely in groups due to Covid which has a much bigger impact than wearing a mask. And they can effectively communicate and socialize with masks by reading other body signals,” he said.

Stella Ziolkowski, director of quality and education for the National Day Nurseries Association, disagrees.

“Wearing face coverings around very young children can impair their development of emotional development, attachments and communication and language acquisition,” she said.

“These children also rely on their ability to visualize facial expressions that may be obscured or made more difficult to understand by wearing a mask. And it’s difficult on a practical level – especially for children to put on and take off their masks safely.

“Nurseries have invested thousands of dollars to improve their ventilation and install more sinks to make their nurseries safer; they also tried to keep the kids out as much as they could.

“But they suffered from high employee numbers and child absences, which led to numerous closures and an unsustainable loss of revenue,” Ms. Ziolkowski said.