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Why parents DON'T need to be alarmed about their kids getting Delta - as Gladys Berejiklian prepares to reveal when children can finally go back to school

School student Osama Suduh, 15, died after catching Covid and meningitis. Osama is the only child who has died after catching Covid in Australia to date

School student Osama Suduh, 15, died after catching Covid and meningitis. Osama is the only child who has died after catching Covid in Australia to date

Since the pandemic began only one Australian child has died after catching Covid - and his death was officially caused by viral meningitis. 

The revealing statistic comes as many parents fret about Scott Morrison and Gladys Berejiklian's plan to re-open Australia when 80 per cent of adults are vaccinated.

New South Wales looks likely to hit the target by about mid-November and the PM has warned lockdowns 'must' end when the target is hit. 

But there is growing anxiety over whether the plan could place children at risk, given there isn't yet a vaccine for kids aged under 12. 

So should parents be worried when the months-long lockdowns gripping 16 million Australians eventually lift? And what do doctors say about the risk of Delta to children? 

Some 8,581 Australians aged under 20 have tested positive to Covid since the pandemic began, according to the Federal Department of Health. However, there has been only one death associated with Covid in that age group. 

Osama Suduh, 15, died at Westmead Children's Hospital on August 15.  Osama was suffering both Covid and pneumococcal meningitis, and meningitis was listed as his formal cause of death. 

Armies of forensic cleaners have been a more common sight than students at schools in the country's biggest states of late

Some 16 million Australians are in lockdown due to the Delta variant, including Australia's two biggest cities. Above, a Sydney woman pops into the shops for lettuce and veggie crisps

Some 16 million Australians are in lockdown due to the Delta variant, including Australia's two biggest cities. Above, a Sydney woman pops into the shops for lettuce and veggie crisps

There has been an uptick in cases of young people testing positive to Covid in this year's Delta wave.  At the weekend NSW authorities reported 204 cases of Covid in children aged up to nine, plus 276 aged between 10 and 19. 

However, during Sydney's outbreak, no child under nine has been in an intensive care unit, and the hospitalisation rate for that age group is less than two per cent, the Sydney Morning Herald reported. 

Meanwhile, in the US, the number of American children hospitalised from Covid has climbed to 277 a day on average, according to Centre for Disease Control and Prevention. 

While more children are getting infected because Delta is more contagious and as they can't be vaccinated, doctors so far don't believe the variant is more lethal. 

Dr Ritu Banerjee, from Vanderbilt Children's Hospital in Tennessee, told the ABC's 7.30 program his hospital had to open a second Covid ward due to the surge.

Tennessee has a transmission rate about nine times that of NSW, but Dr Banerjee's hospital has recorded just two Covid-related child deaths during the pandemic.

'We are not seeing more severe illness with Delta, we are just seeing so much more of it,' Dr Banerjee said. 

'So the overall number of children in the hospital is greater than we were seeing earlier.'  

Infectious diseases expert Professor Sharon Lewin helped produce the Doherty Institute report which Australia's opening up plan is based upon. 

Prof. Lewin said: 'Covid is a nasty illness and we don't want children to get it. But very few children end up with severe disease in hospital.'  

As for fears children will contract 'Long Covid' - where symptoms linger long after the initial infection - Prof. Lewin told The Drum the condition is more common in people with severe disease, 'so I expect we would see much lower levels of Long Covid in children.' 

Doherty Institute Professor Sharon Lewin (above) says Australia doesn't want kids to catch Covid - but has argued very few children end up in hospital suffering severe disease as a result of it

Doherty Institute Professor Sharon Lewin says Australia doesn't want kids to catch Covid - but has argued very few children end up in hospital suffering severe disease as a result of it

Australia has delivered more than 15 million jabs and the vaccination program is escalating quickly

Australia has delivered more than 15 million jabs and the vaccination program is escalating quickly

Meanwhile, the return to school will be staggered for children in NSW, authorities have confirmed, and kids of all ages are likely to be vaccinated eventually, with clinical trials underway.

NSW top doctor Kerry Chant told a parliamentary hearing on Monday that she anticipates 12-to-15-year-olds will be vaccinated 'quite quickly'.

Vaccinations for all 12 to 15-year-olds are expected to get the greenlight from federal authorities as early as Friday.

'The other children will have access to vaccine in the new year,' Dr Chant said.  

Ms Berejiklian will announce plans for when students will return to the classroom later this week. 

Nine newspapers have tipped that students from kindergarten to Year 2, in Year 11 and potentially Year 6 will go back to school in October.

When the rest of the cohort goes back will depend on case numbers. NSW recorded 753 cases overnight.

NSW HITS SIX MILLIONS JABS, BUT THERE'S A LONG WAY TO GO 

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian will announce the plan for students to return to school later in the week

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian will announce the plan for students to return to school later in the week

Sydney is one step closer to freedom with Gladys Berejiklian's target of six million Covid vaccines hit today - even as 753 new cases were recorded.

On Tuesday morning, the NSW Premier said 60 per cent of the state's population has had at least one jab and 32 per cent have had two - 48,761 vaccines were administered on Monday.

Ms Berejiklian has long promised the target of six million jabs would trigger 'greater freedoms', at least for the 32 per cent in the state fully vaccinated.

But those will not be announced until later this week, close to the August 28 target date NSW beat by four days, and are likely to be extremely limited.

This is because NSW has recorded more than 800 cases a day, with the vast majority of cases in western Sydney, over most of the past week.

'I'm so pleased and grateful NSW has had six million jabs,' Ms Berejiklian said. 

However, chief health officer Kerry Chant warned the sharp drop in cases did not mean NSW had seen the peak of the outbreak, and cases could still go up again.

'We are here for the long haul. I'd love to believe that we are on the trend down. That would give me joy... but one day is not a trend,' she said.

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