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The first US schools have reopened with classes in person, and they are already sounding alarm bells about how fast the coronavirus can spread.
Cherokee County School District, Georgia, north of Atlanta, had more than 100 confirmed COVID-19 cases by the end of its second week of classes, and more than 1,600 students and staff were exposed after they were exposed. to her. By the third week, three of the district’s high schools had temporarily returned to all-online learning. Schools in Mississippi, Tennessee, Nebraska and other states also reported multiple cases, quarantines, and temporary school closures.
Deciding whether to open schools to person classes during a pandemic is a complex decision. Children often learn better in school, where they have direct contact with expert teachers and the social-emotional learning that comes from around other children. But they also risk spreading the disease to their teachers and families apart without even being aware that they have it.
For schools reopening classes, there are important choices that can help keep students, families and teachers safe. As nursing professors, we have followed the developmental research on children’s risks of getting and distributing COVID-19, and we have some advice.
How infected are children?
Initially, it was found that COVID-19 had minimal effects on children and that they did not spread it easily, but new research changes that view.
A large study from Korea published in July found that older children, aged 10 to 19, were just as likely as adults to spread the virus to others. Younger children were suspected of infecting fewer people; however, a hospital in Chicago found that children under 5 with mild to moderate COVID-19 actually had more genetic material of coronavirus in their upper respirators than older children and adults.
A COVID-19 outbreak at a summer camp in Georgia clearly shows how susceptible children of all ages are to infection: 51% of campers aged 6 to 10 test positive, as did 44% of those ages 11 to 17 die.
In mid-August, data from several states showed that children represented approximately 9.1% of all reported COVD-19 cases, and that the average in all 100,000 children was increased to 538 cases. The American Academy of Pediatrics found a sharp rise in the number of American children testing positive, suggesting that far more children were infected than humans realized.
How risky are children?
Children generally have milder symptoms than adults. In young bodies, it may occur as a fever, runny nose, cough, poor throat, shortness of breath, fatigue, headache, muscle aches, nausea or diarrhea. Research suggests that children may have more stomach problems and diarrhea compared to adults.
But that is not the story for all children. Some have died after contraction of COVID-19, and others have developed severe complications after appearing to recover.
Similar to adults, children are at higher risk for developing severe symptoms if they have underlying medical conditions such as diabetes, obesity, asthma, lung disease, suppressed immune system, congenital heart disease and serious genetic, neurological or metabolic disorders. And children with none of these conditions may still end up in intensive care units due to COVID-19.
In very rare cases, several weeks after receiving COVID-19, children have developed a system of inflammatory syndrome (MIS-C), with symptoms similar to Kawasaki disease, including fever, rash, gastrointestinal problems, inflammation, shock and heart damage. . At least six children in the US have died there.
A major concern for schools is that children who are infected but have no symptoms can quietly spread the disease to their teachers and friends, who then take it home to their families and to the community.
Ways to keep children and their families safe
If a school decides to reopen for personal instruction, it will not be the same environment that students found last fall. Officials will have to make difficult decisions that will ultimately affect the culture of school life.
Here are 10 recommendations to look for in schools that can help keep children, families and faculty safe:
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Check everyone every morning for symptoms, including temperature checks, but recognize that the virus begins to spread before symptoms appear.
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Set up tests for quick answers when possible. These tests can mark people who are infected but have no symptoms, although they can be expensive, difficult to find and have higher rates of false positions than the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) tests which take longer.
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Make sure anyone who can wear a face mask. Research shows that the coronavirus spreads primarily through the air. Masks can limit how far an infected person can spread the virus and how many masks they can breathe.
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Keep desks 6 feet apart for physical distance. On the school bus and where lines form, mark your seats and line spaces to easily remember physical distance.
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Instead of having students change classrooms, they stay together in cohorts and have to transfer teachers from classroom to classroom to limit contact in the halls. Keep classes outside as much as possible, and make sure air outside circulates in rooms.
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Suspend extracurricular activities with a high risk of transmission, such as singing and sports with physical contact. Some activities are less risky, such as tennis, swimming and running.
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Often clean areas with high touch, such as bathrooms and door handles.
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Make sure students are up to date on all immunizations and get the flu shot.
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Be prepared to provide emotional and behavioral support to students dealing with stressful and sometimes traumatic experiences during the pandemic.
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Get a sister-in-law. During a pandemic like this, every school should have a nurse to control symptoms and manage diseases, but many schools do not have one full time.
Schools need to have a plan and be ready to change it. If students and staff become infected when the school does not meet safety requirements, schools need the flexibility to take classes online.
COVID-19 presents an opportunity to reflect on the learning differences and disadvantages that many students will encounter without personal learning. From the ashes of COVID-19, all key stakeholders in the school community will need to work together to develop innovative, sustainable solutions that benefit students most affected by the pandemic.
Phyllis Sharps, Professor of Nursing, Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing and Lucine Francis, Assistant Professor of Nursing, Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing
This article was republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
