As many parents get ready to send their children back to the classroom in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, Guthrie Pediatrics System Chief Dr. Philip Heavner said keeping kids safe is a lot about common sense.<\/p>\n
Speaking as part of a press event Tuesday at the Guthrie Robert Packer Hospital, Heavner urged parents to thoroughly read their school district\u2019s health and safety plan, including contingency plans, before sending their children back into the classroom. He also said regular hand washing, mask wearing, and social distancing are key to keeping kids safe throughout the day.<\/p>\n
\u201cKids should absolutely be wearing masks,\u201d he stressed. \u201cThere are very few exceptions to that. Children under 2 shouldn\u2019t wear masks. Children who have breathing difficulties due to some medical issue or people who can\u2019t remove a mask on their own safely probably shouldn\u2019t be wearing a mask. But those folks are going to need notes from their medical providers.\u201d<\/p>\n
Although some might be concerned about children picking up the virus on their clothes, Heavner pointed out that there is little evidence to support that. However, the medical community has been concerned about the possibility of children becoming infected with both COVID-19 and another virus such as influenza.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve always known that school aged children are a repository for respiratory illness and things like that,\u201d said Heavner. \u201cWhat leaps to mind is influenza, and that\u2019s one reason why we\u2019re such proponents for things such as influenza vaccine, which is going to be especially important this year. We\u2019re aware that co-infections with things like influenza and other respiratory viruses and coronavirus could be potentially very bad.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said school vaccine requirements in both Pennsylvania and New York state already establish a safeguard for protecting children from illnesses that can be avoided.<\/p>\n
As school districts rely on parents to make sure their kids are healthy before going to school, Heavner said temperature checks aren\u2019t needed unless a child isn\u2019t feeling well.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf they have a 100.4 or higher, they should really stay home and possibly be evaluated by their health care provider,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Testing is also only needed in the case a child shows symptoms, especially given some of the lengthy wait times with current testing and the fact that the U.S. doesn\u2019t have a universal testing system in place like some other countries, he added.<\/p>\n
While area school districts have consulted with Guthrie as they\u2019ve crafted their health and safety plans, Heavner noted that he wasn\u2019t involved in those discussions, so he couldn\u2019t speak specifically to what was detailed as part of that process. However, there are regular discussions going on internally \u201cand we\u2019re being as consistent with our advice as we possibly can.\u201d<\/p>\n
He stressed that in-person learning is safe given the current low levels of infection locally, and officials are continuing to monitor the spread of the virus day by day. Referencing a statement from the American Academy of Pediatrics, Heavner noted that in-person learning is more beneficial than virtual options for a variety of reasons, including the development of social\/emotional skills, nutrition and physical activity, and mental health support.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf there\u2019s going to be in-person learning, there\u2019s always going to be the risk of transmissible disease,\u201d he explained. \u201cThe question is how serious is that disease and how is it going to affect people? Coronavirus is just a next level illness. It\u2019s something that, at this point, we don\u2019t have a good vaccine for but we will. We basically have to get from here to there, and we\u2019re all hoping it\u2019s a matter of months. So it\u2019s really about getting things right this fall, preparing for contingencies when things do come up, and getting appropriate medical treatment when they do.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
As many parents get ready to send their children back to the classroom in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, Guthrie Pediatrics System Chief Dr….<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":80799,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-80798","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n