London, Aug 23 (TIWN): Professor Chris Whitty, the UK's chief medical adviser, has said that children were more likely to be harmed by not returning to school next month than being infected with the novel coronavirus, it was reported on Sunday.

Millions of pupils in England, Wales and Northern Ireland are due to return to schools in September, while Scotland has already resumed in-person classes.

Speaking to the BBC, Whitty, who is also England’s chief medical officer, said “the chances of children dying from Covid-19 are incredibly small” – but missing lessons “damages children in the long run”.

“Many more (children) were likely to be harmed by not going than harmed by going.

“There’s also very clear evidence from the UK and around the world that children much less commonly get a severe illness and end up having to be hospitalised if they get symptomatic Covid-19,” he said, adding that the vast majority of children who died with the virus had “very serious” pre-existing health conditions.