In February 2020 the COVID‐19 pandemic flared up across Italy and the first cluster appeared in Southern Lombardy, which is still the most affected area (1). Schools. sports facilities and parks were closed on 1 March, followed by a strict lockdown on 10 March after a significant increase in infections and deaths. The next day the World Health Organization declared COVID‐19 a pandemic. Many studies have now been published concerning the epidemiological and clinical characteristics of COVID‐19 patients, but data on children are still relatively scarce.
Paediatric emergency department visits fell by more than 70% during the COVID‐19 lockdown in Northern Italy