Very few Montreal children got COVID-19: survey

Fewer than half of young people in two populous areas of metropolitan Montreal have gone to be tested for COVID-19, and of those, almost all have tested negative, according to preliminary results from a study led by researchers at Université de Montréal.

Of the 1,000 children surveyed so far in the enCORE study, mostly on the West Island and in the Plateau Mont-Royal borough, 41 per cent have gone to get tested to see if they were infected with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.

Of those, 99 per cent tested negative. Children from 11 households also had family members test positive for SARS-CoV-2, yet only one child from these households tested positive, according to the study, led by UdeM researcher Kate Zinszer.

On the downside, however, many families reported mental-health issues related to the pandemic, as young children and teenagers have become less active and spend more time indoors and on their computers and other electronic devices.

So far, parents representing 1,000 children ages 2 to 17 daycares and schools in Beaconsfield and the Plateau have answered questionnaires. Additional participants are being recruited from schools and daycares in Montreal North and Mercier-Hochelaga Maisonneuve, areas that have been hit harder by COVID-19.

“Our study also includes serology tests, using dried blood spots, to see if children have antibodies to SARS-CoV-2, which would suggest they’ve had a previous infection, perhaps without symptoms,” said Zinszer, an assistant professor at UdeM’s School of Public Health and researcher at the Public Health Research Institute.

“We don’t have the results of those antibody tests yet, so some of these surveyed children may indeed have had COVID-19 without knowing it. Six per cent of the parents we surveyed think their child has had the coronavirus. As we recruit children and teenagers in schools and daycares in Mercier-Hochelaga Maisonneuve and Montreal North, I suspect we’ll see different results.”

Confidence in schools is low

The survey also asked about parents’ confidence in schools. Only 35 per cent said they think schools can help reduce the spread of coronavirus in the classroom, while only 37 per cent think schools can meet the physical activity needs of their child. More than half (58%) believe that school can meet their child’s academic needs.

Funded by Canada’s COVID-19 Immunity Task Force, the EnCORE study looks at 2-to-17-year-olds in daycares, elementary schools and high schools randomly selected from four Montreal neighbourhoods: Beaconsfield, Hochelaga-Maisonneuve, Montreal-North, and the Plateau Mont-Royal.

The researchers are inviting all parents and legal guardians with children attending selected schools and daycares in those areas to have their children take part in the study – with an added push to get parents and teens in Montreal North and Mercier-Hochelaga Maisonneuve.

Participation requires signing a consent form, filling out an online questionnaire, and administering a finger-prick blood test to the child at home. Parents will be notified if their child has antibodies to SARS-CoV-2, although that still does not guarantee immunity against the virus that causes COVID-19.

To participate in the study or to see if your child’s school or daycare is participating, please visit the EnCORE website: encorestudy.ca.