THREE children died due to Covid-19 in the first five months of this year, the same number of those who died in the whole of last year, director-general of health Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said in a statement today.

However, over the same period, the number of children needing intensive care treatment has increased.

Noor Hisham said in 2020, eight children were admitted to intensive care units, of which six were under the age of five.

From January till May this year, he said this number was 27 children, 19 of them are under five.

Noor Hisham said parents and guardians play an important role in protecting children from Covid-19 as they have a low immunity against the virus.

He also urged people to follow Covid-19 standard operating procedures and asked the public to sign up for the vaccine.

On Tuesday, the National Security Council said all children aged 12 years and below are not allowed to be in any public place or facility – except for an emergency, treatment, education or exercise -while the lockdown is in place from June 1 to June 14.

On Monday, Health Minister Dr Adham Baba revealed that there had been 82,341 cases of Covid-19 involving infants and children.

Of which, 19,851 cases involved children under the age of four; 8,237 cases for five to six-year-olds; 26,851 seven to 12-year-olds and 27,402 cases for 13 to 17-year-olds.

Health experts have also recommended Covid-19 vaccination for children starting at 12, as cases are on the rise.

The US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention has recommended the use of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for use in children between the ages of 12 and 15.

Pfizer has said the efficacy of its vaccine in clinical trials is 100% in adolescents aged 12-15. – June 3, 2021.