Excerpted from preamble
The main objective of this document is to advocate for the safe return of children and youth to school by
emphasizing the importance of school reopening for broader child health, balanced against the potential and important risks of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
This living document is meant to provide information to policy-makers by highlighting paediatric-specific considerations based on our collective experience with children and their families/caregivers. The first version of the document was created by a core group of healthcare workers at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) and Unity Health Toronto, including those with expertise in paediatrics, infectious diseases, infection prevention and control, school health, psychiatry and mental health.
In this updated version, refinements have been made with contributions and endorsements from other Ontario paediatric hospitals (CHEO, Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital, Kingston Health Sciences Centre, Children’s Hospital at London Health Sciences Centre, McMaster Children’s Hospital and Unity Health Toronto), epidemiologists, public health physicians, and a volunteer advisory group of teachers and parents. It was also reviewed by physicians from adult infectious diseases.