Switzerland is to allow children under the age of ten to visit their grandparents in lockdown despite the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. 

The health ministry's infectious diseases chief Daniel Koch confirmed that while scientists believed young children did not transmit the virus, any such visits should be kept brief. 

The move follows research at Zurich, Bern and Geneva universities which have been looking into infection rates in children. 

Koch told a news conference this week: "We now know that young children don’t transmit the virus.

“They just don't have the receptors to catch the disease.”

He said that children who do have coronavirus are likely to be infected by their parents. 

“That is why small children pose no risk to high-risk patients or grandparents,” he added. 

He confirmed that babysitting, family gatherings and time with other children outside the house is still not allowed. 

The nation is one of several European countries looking to ease lockdown measures and has recorded 1,380 deaths with over 29,000 confirmed cases. 

They are set to reopen garden centres and hairdressers, while schools and shops selling items other than food will reopen in two weeks.