The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has denied issuing an advisory asking children not to play in open spaces as the city grapples with a second wave of COVID-19 cases.
The civic body took to social media to refute a graphic in circulation and denied that they issued any such advisory. Furthermore, research on the impact of SARS-CoV-2 on children is still underway across the world.
The message in the image with the BMC logo reads, "Area Local Management, Important Message, To all Residents from BMC. Dear friends, We have received a message from the BMC Health Department that there is a higher stage of Corona which cannot be detected but is infected to small children till the age of 30. We request all the parents not to leave their children to play in open spaces.
"Avoid going to public places. Avoid going to malls. Avoid going to theaters. Avoid going to beaches. Society Chairman/ Secretary/Members please note that your family safety is your first priority so avoid maintain social distance and avoid social gatherings in your society."
The BMC denied that they issued the advisory.
While the BMC is continuing to insist on following social distancing, along with a night curfew in place, there has been no advisory stating the second wave of the virus that the city is currently engulfed in is more harmful for children and people under the age of 30.
On March 24, while announcing that vaccination will be initiated for every citizen above the age of 45. the Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan mentioned that this age group contributed to 88% of the deaths in the country. He also stated that even though the death rates in the younger population are lower, they are effective carriers of the virus.
The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has also so far not released any official statement on the impact of SARS-CoV-2 on children and its effect on transmission of the virus.
Recent studies suggest that children transmit SARS-CoV-2 as effectively as adults do but there is no research substantiating the theory that children are more prone to the virus.