BRUSSELS, Sept. 2 (Xinhua) -- Despite the upsurge of COVID-19 cases across the European Union (EU), the head of the bloc's health advisory body insisted on Wednesday that the closure of schools must remain the last resort.

Andrea Ammon, director of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), told the European Parliament's committee that oversees health issues that from all the cases, less than 5 percent are young people below the age of 18.

"When diagnosed with COVID, Children seem to have mild symptoms, fewer hospitalizations and very rare deaths," said the director in her opening speech.

She said that they did not have conclusive evidence on what effect the closure of schools had on transmission rate of the coronavirus.

Ammon underlined that schools are an essential part of children's lives. "Closing schools should be the last measure," she stressed.

In response to questions from the lawmakers, Ammon admitted that there has been no effective method of monitoring the implementation of the restrictive measures in schools. Enditem