If child comes down with COVID-19 at school ‘everybody’s at risk,’ local doctor says

If a child comes down with COVID-19 and goes to school in an in-person classroom, everyone the child comes into contact with in class and at home is at risk, a local doctor said Thursday.

AdventHealth doctors hosted a Facebook Live event to answer parents’ and teachers’ questions about going back to school.

Dr. Michael Keating, chief medical officer at AdventHealth for Children, said there is a possibility that reopening classrooms could lead to a third wave of the virus.

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“The implications of having [children] as a potential reservoir for viruses is a very real one because it places not only their families potentially at risk, but the staff in the schools at risk and the rest of the population and their friends at risk,” Keating said.

Keating said he wouldn’t count on the theory that children may be less likely to transmit the virus to others. He said to think about it in the same way if you were to encounter someone with the flu. No matter if they were an adult or child, you would still be at risk of catching it.

“I think if a child becomes infected with COVID, everybody’s at risk,” he said.

Keating said one of the primary concerns about going back to school in-person is not only the health of the children, but that of the teachers and staff who may have contributing factors that could make them more at-risk if they contract coronavirus.

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He said in a hospital setting it is extremely uncommon for a health care provider to get COVID-19 from a patient or a patient to get it from a staff member. For similar results, he said teachers need to be strict about wearing masks and washing their hands not only in the classroom but outside of school.

Where hospital workers are most likely to catch the virus is when they go out after work, Keating said.

“So the measures that healthcare providers take in the hospital need to be a way of life 24 hours a day, and teachers need to do the same things because if they hand wash and mask and distance in school, and then they go out to the local pub and have a beer, perhaps they’re going to get COVID potentially,” Keating said. “So do the right things all the time. It should become a way of life right now.”

The same goes for parents, he said. They should set the example for their children when it comes to wearing masks and washing hands so that they are less likely to contract the virus inside or outside of the classroom.

Keating said kids will get the sniffles and it will be hard to know sometimes if it’s allergy, a cold or something more.

The doctors recommended getting a good thermometer to keep tabs on your child’s temperature.

Read: Back to school: Where to find masks to protect your child during coronavirus pandemic

Watch the discussion in full below:

Cox Media Group