The health authorities are drafting a set of protocols to help medical professionals deal with children who may be showing symptoms of COVID-19, Times of Malta is informed.

As the weather cools down and children return to school, it is common for the younger ones especially to regularly catch colds and flu.

This year that trend could prove problematic because of the need to distinguish between the symptoms of these common illnesses and the similar ones of COVID-19.

The protocols will help doctors decide whether a child should be tested for the coronavirus or not. This would avoid subjecting the children to too many tests.

“Some children get colds very often in winter and so this year it is even more crucial that we all understand the symptoms and what they might be. Using the protocols that are currently being drafted, the doctors will be able to better evaluate the situation and decide the best course of action,” a government source said.

This year it is even more crucial that we all understand the symptoms

The health authorities are bracing themselves for an increase in requests from parents for their children to be tested for COVID-19 test as schools reopen.

It is believed that the protocols will be unveiled in the coming days, although anyone with concerns will still be urged to call the COVID-19 helpline 111 for guidance.

Superintendent of Public Health Charmaine Gauci has told Times of Malta that the health authorities are studying how to reduce the risk of infection in schools by looking at what they are doing abroad. She said it had already been observed that most of the spread in schools did not involve transmission between children but to teachers.

Only about five per cent of the cases registered in Malta have been children under five, a trend similar to that abroad.