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According to Daiva Razmuvienė, an epidemiologist at the National Center for Public Health (NVSC), the goal of everyone (the educational community, parents and public health professionals) is the same: to teach children in the classroom.
“We must do everything we can to ensure that children go back to school and stay in it for a month or two at the most. It is really possible, it definitely needs everyone’s focus and attention. First, vaccinate both adults and to children from the age of 12 who have not yet done so, as well as not forgetting preventive measures, to monitor the state of health of themselves and their relatives ”, says D. Razmuvienė.
Epidemiologists remember the answers to the most common questions when COVID-19 is confirmed in a child.
Answers for parents
What should parents do with a child whose COVID-19 has been cleared?
The child’s parents should first inform the child’s educational institution about the COVID-19 diagnosis and contact the family doctor.
Who will conduct the epidemiological study and identify the exposed persons?
The infected child survey, that is, the epidemiological study, will be carried out by a public health specialist working in the school. This specialist will contact the infected child or their parents to find out the circumstances of the infection, determine if there are other relevant cases of coronavirus infection, as well as who has had a high risk of exposure, and take action. to inform the exposed.
Are parents and other people living together isolated?
Parents must remain in isolation for 14 days from the last day of contact with an infected person when they realize their child has been diagnosed with COVID-19. Other family members living in the home with whom the infected child has interacted should also be isolated.
In the event that one of the parents has to take care of the infected child, the isolation period is calculated differently. When one of the parents (father, mother, guardian or another person who takes care of the child) lives in the same room with the infected person, the isolation of that person begins from the day on which the infectious period of the child is considered to end. The last contact is considered to be the tenth day of the illness, which is theoretically estimated as the last day of the contagious period. Consequently, in this case, the isolation of one of the parents will be calculated according to the formula 10 days plus 13 days inclusive.
Do parents still need to be in isolation if their parents and other people who live together are vaccinated or sick?
Isolation of people who have been fully vaccinated or exposed to COVID-19 should be considered on an individual basis. Isolation cannot be granted to fully vaccinated persons if more than 14 days have elapsed since complete vaccination at the time of exposure, or to relapses if less than 210 days have elapsed since a positive PCR or antigen test, or a test quantitative or semi-quantitative. positive test for antibody test.
Can the isolation period of an exposed person be shortened?
The isolation period can be shortened to 10 days after a PCR test on an isolation day no earlier than 7 isolation days if symptoms of acute upper respiratory infection are not present. The request to shorten the isolation must be submitted online at https://nvsc.lrv.lt/lt/visuomenei/nvsc.lrv.lt/sutrumpinti.
How much will a child with confirmed COVID-19 disease have to isolate?
For a child diagnosed with COVID-19, the GP will determine the length of isolation, that is, confirm when the child is considered healthy. Generally, in the case of a mild form of COVID-19, the child is considered to have recovered 10 days after the onset of symptoms, if the symptoms disappear, and in the case of the asymptomatic form, 10 days after the sampling date. . However, each case is individual and is decided by the treating physician and not by NVSC specialists or public health offices.
Responses to school communities
What to do for the school community: teachers, classmates, their parents?
When a child’s parents report that a student has become ill, the school’s public health professional will need to assess which children and teachers have been at high risk, compile lists of such individuals, including names, contact phone numbers (children or parents if the children are younger).
According to the information provided, children and teachers at high risk of exposure will receive isolation and will be informed by short SMS to the indicated phone numbers. In these messages, those at high risk will find a questionnaire to complete, indicate if they agree to be tested for COVID-19, etc. Important: If the parents complete the questionnaire, the details of the child are provided.
How will the risk be assessed?
High-risk exposure is defined as contact with an infected person for more than 15 minutes. at a distance of less than 2 meters, he had direct contact with his body fluids or direct physical contact (for example, hand pressure).
The days when a person is dangerous (that is, spreading the virus) and when the exposure can be considered high risk are calculated as follows: if the person experiences symptoms, 72 hours. before the onset of symptoms and 10 days after the onset of symptoms; if there are no symptoms – 72 hours. until the day of collection of the positive smear and 10 days after collection of the smear.
What is the duration of isolation for teachers and classmates?
People exposed to COVID-19 must isolate themselves for 14 days from the last day of exposure (inclusive).
In this case, if the teacher, the child is vaccinated or sick, will he also be isolated?
Isolation of people who have been fully vaccinated or have had contact with COVID should be considered on an individual basis. Isolation cannot be granted to fully vaccinated persons if more than 14 days have elapsed since complete vaccination at the time of exposure, or to relapses if less than 210 days have elapsed since a positive PCR or antigen test, or a test quantitative or semi-quantitative. positive test for antibody test.
Can the isolation period of an exposed person be shortened?
The isolation period can be shortened to 10 days after a PCR test on an isolation day no earlier than 7 isolation days if symptoms of acute upper respiratory infection are not present. The request to shorten the isolation must be submitted online at https://nvsc.lrv.lt/lt/visuomenei/nvsc.lrv.lt/sutrumpinti.
Do parents whose child is isolated due to contact with the infected person, as well as other family members, need to be isolated?
In this case, the parents are the so-called contact point. This means that they have not been in contact with an infected COVID-19 or, in other words, source of infection, so there is no need to isolate them.
What to do if a child from the same family had high-risk contact at an educational institution and has siblings who attend the same educational institution?
In this case, the siblings are the so-called contact point. Therefore, a child who has had direct contact with an infected person must be isolated and his siblings can go to an educational institution.
Is it necessary to disinfect the premises?
If the case of COVID-19 is detected in the school, the facilities must be disinfected according to the recommendations of SAM, which can be found at the link: https://sam.lrv.lt/uploads/sam/documents/files / REKOMENDACIJOS% 20dezinfekcijai% 2020200327% 20 (1). Pdf
How will children learn if they are infected in the classroom and other children in isolation?
The administration of each school decides, depending on the situation, the best way to organize the educational process in each specific case.
Cumulative method tests and rapid antigen tests.
What to do if you get a positive answer when you test the cumulative method.
PCR assays are performed for each child of a positive cumulative;
all the children are isolated, who participated in this joint study and their parents awaiting the results of the PCR study;
all the children in the class are isolated, attending school pending the results of a PCR test;
After receiving the PCR test results:
if they are all negative, Ithe insulation is finished for all;
if at least one of the cumulative PCR tests is positive, remain isolated: A child with a positive result, his parents and all the children in the class who attended school at that time because they had contact with the patient.
Isolation is terminated: to the parents of children (of a positive pool) whose individual PCR tests are negative (because in this case they become a contact contact not subject to isolation).
What should I do if I get a positive response to the rapid antigen test?
That person is isolated and people who are at high risk of coming into contact with them are isolated.
A person who tests positive on a rapid antigen test will need to register for the PCR test.
If a confirmatory PCR test is performed after a positive antigen test (ensuring that sampling is performed within 48 hours of receiving the antigen test result), the isolation will be terminated for both the examiner and for the exposed person upon receiving a negative PCR test result.
