Children carry COVID-19 virus, small study finds

FILE PHOTO: Children are seen washing their hands at Heath Mount School as some schools reopen, following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), Watton-at-Stone, Britain, June 2, 2020. REUTERS/Andrew Couldridge

(Reuters) - Children younger than five carried major amounts of coronavirus in their upper respiratory tract, a small study published on Thursday showed, raising new questions about whether kids can infect others.

Data on children as sources of coronavirus spread are sparse, and early reports did not find strong evidence of children as major contributors to the deadly virus that has killed 669,632 people globally.