[ad_1]
Although the number of preschool-age children with severe COVID-19 illnesses is very small, the VAB statistics from the Swedish Social Insurance Agency and the descriptions of preschool directors in Stockholm and Gothenburg that DN spoke to show that the concerns on infection increased rapidly after the summer.
At the same time, preschool directors describe how difficult and sometimes conflict-ridden it can be for staff when they have to act as gatekeepers in the face of stressed parents when the recently updated recommendations of the Health Agency must be interpreted. Public.
– I understand those who think and say that “God, I can’t take it anymore, the boy is a brat.” And then we have parents who are very scared, so it can be clearly difficult for employees to handle, says Ingalill Gustavsson, director of preschool at Farsta in Stockholm.
That the beginning of this fall Once a new situation is involved, it becomes clear when the days vab are compared, withdrawal of temporary parental benefit. In the past two weeks, they have gained momentum and from week 35 to 36, days of vab increased by 70 percent. And when compared to the corresponding week last year, 66 percent more requests for vab days were made in the first week of September this year.
Read more: The daily life of the family fundamentally changed when the pandemic hit
Försäkringskassan National Statistics indicates that the increase is mainly due to the same child staying at home for longer.
Eva Jakobsson is the covid-19 coordinator at the Gothenburg city preschool administration. Regarding the difficulties in deciding which child to send home and not, he says:
– There will be a dialogue in the room. The administration follows the Public Health Agency recommendations on when children should be home after preschool, and provides room for interpretation, between educators and tutors. Here are families who experience the pressure of putting their daily lives and finances together.
– Somewhere patience runs out, you may feel like it doesn’t go hand in hand. He’s being pressured.
Eva Jakobsson says the administration has taken a strict attitude towards the recommendations. There is also a close dialogue with infection control experts in the region.
– We have a higher threshold for returning to preschool if you have symptoms. But I wouldn’t describe it as zero tolerance.
It can be very difficult. We are not medically trained. Let’s see the general state. However, many children can have a cough long after they are sick. There is a lot to consider.
At Farsta in Stockholm Ingalill Gustavsson is the preschool director of a business with 2,400 children. She says they are currently discussing how preschools should function as infection-proof as possible indoors as we move into colder, rainier days where outdoor play is not as easy.
– Now, children with a mild cough or runny nose should be able to return after seven days if they are otherwise symptom-free, says Ingalill Gustavsson.
– But of course it can be very difficult. We are not medically trained. Let’s see the general state. However, many children can have a cough long after they are sick. There is a lot to consider.
What is it like for your employees to act as a kind of gatekeeper?
– We have sent information to educators on how we should work with this and what guidelines apply. They should receive questions, but not end in controversies. Therefore, the most annoying parents should be referred to the principal.
There are beginning to be examples in both Stockholm and Gothenburg of parents requesting to avoid paying the preschool fee with reference to covid-19.
– We have received some who want a deduction because they cannot use their place. This situation can probably sometimes be described as a gray area where the Swedish Social Insurance Agency does not always come in and cover itself, and it affects families, we can definitely see that, says Eva Jakobsson from the preschool administration in Gothenburg.
Amanda Larsson, head of case management and law for the preschool administration, says she is aware of a case in which a family brought the city of Gothenburg to the sheriff. This should apply to a child whose family, concerned about infection, has decided to stay home.
– The family has sent an invoice that we have disputed because the child has been received in preschool, says Amanda Larsson.
That the children who have mild symptoms Since a dry cough and runny nose according to new recommendations from the Public Health Agency can return to preschool if seven days have passed since the illness is completely reasonable, according to Jonas F. Ludvigsson, a pediatrician at Örebro and professor of medical epidemiology at the Karolinska Institutet in Solna.
– With most infections, you may have symptoms that persist for a time, including a runny nose and a mild cough, which in children can last for several weeks. The body may have killed the virus, but the damage that the virus causes, the reaction that the virus triggers, does not have to go away.
Fever, on the other hand, is a sign of an ongoing viral infection. And if the course of the disease worsens every day, you should also stay home a little longer, even without a fever.
– There is no magic cap and to be honest the virus is not completely gone, but the levels will probably be so low on day seven that it plays no practical role. I have been contacted by parents who have been at home for a long time and don’t know what to do. Taking care of children for five weeks because the baby is congested becomes a big practical problem.
Jonas F. Ludvigsson thinks that this will be the new everyday life of families with children, even when it comes to a vaccine. The evaluation of the Public Health Agency is that, in general, children and young people do not need to be vaccinated “in a first phase”, since they are not seriously affected by the virus. Also, if the vaccine were only 50 percent effective, we would have to maintain our current lifestyle for quite some time, Ludvigsson believes.
“Sure, a 50 percent effective vaccine will benefit, for example, by reducing the number of deaths, but unfortunately it will not allow us to change our current lifestyle much because those vaccinated can still contract the disease and infect others.” , He says. .
Helena Sjödin Öberg: her career hasn’t been ruined by a staggering few weeks
