Serious symptoms seem to be very uncommon among children. | Miquel À. Cañellas

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The head of paediatrics at Sant Joan de Déu Hospital in Barcelona, Juanjo García, said on Tuesday that "more than 99%" of minors with coronavirus are asymptomatic or have mild symptoms.

This is a finding from the Kids Corona research programme, which was launched two months ago. As well as researching the effects of Covid-19 on minors, the programme considers pregnant women.

There has been analysis of 411 families with 724 children in which at least one parent was diagnosed with coronavirus. Results indicate that the prevalence of virus antibodies in adults and minors is similar, as is the rate of infection. There are to be two more lines of research this summer. This will involve some 2,000 children at camps in Barcelona.

For pregnant women, Eduard Gratacós of the BCNatal consortium explained that of women analysed, the first results showed that 14% were positive for coronavirus. He distinguished between the first and third trimesters. In the first trimester, 70% of the women with Covid-19 had no symptoms and 30% mild symptoms. In the third, 52% had no symptoms, 43.5% had mild symptoms and 4.5% developed pneumonia. Eleven per cent of hospital admissions were for women in the third trimester of pregnancy.