Covid-19 infections among Indonesian children overshadow plans to reopen schools

Children play in front of their school, which is temporarily closed, in Central Jakarta on Aug 21, 2020. The Covid-19 pandemic has forced millions of Indonesian children to study from home. - JP/ANN

JAKARTA (The Jakarta Post/ANN): Indonesia’s paediatricians have raised concerns over the government’s plan to allow more schools to reopen, given that the share of children among Covid-19 fatalities is higher in Indonesia than in other countries.

With around 30 per cent of Indonesia’s 270 million population being below the age of 18, at least 9,216 children have been infected with the disease in the country as of Aug. 6.