Opinion

It's too early to open camps for children

Posted May 22, 2020 1:00 am

While there are new concerns about the effects of COVID-19 on children, 6th District congressional candidate Jeanne Ives is circulating an online petition to reopen Children's Sports Camps.

Children are not immune to COVID-19. They can become very ill, and, as the tragic death of 12-year-old Ernesto Guzman shows, can die from this.

The CDC recently issued an emergency advisory about the virus possibly causing inflamed blood vessels in children. The risks of COVID-19 may be lower for children than adults, but there is still a risk, and it is still not fully understood.

There are also risks to adults from these camps. Children can be asymptomatic carriers of COVID-19 and staff members are still at risk of catching COVID-19. A protentional outbreak wouldn't be confined to the camp. It would spread into the general community.

Once we have more testing and a better understanding of the virus, then we can consider reopening sports camps. Now is not that time.

There are more important priorities to address instead of risking our children's lives by sending them to sports camps.

William Brinkman

Palatine

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