Family, day care feels tension in new COVID-19 health rules – Examiner Online

Seattle (AP) — In the symptom-sensitive world of COVID-19, health guidelines have become stricter, causing my son to hit the bottom of a sniffle, pandemic parenting rock after his second return home from day care.

It was supposed to be Jacob’s first day after a stressful 10-day home quarantine for another mild symptom that turned out to be harmless. Frustrated and desperate — she had no other choice of care and she had to focus on her work — and convinced that her two-year-old runny nose and cough were also benign, Seattle’s mom disobeyed her day care orders. The day I brought him back to the next person.

“I was convinced he had a cold, and that sounds very irresponsible,” said Wheatley, 43, who works for a nonprofit early childhood education organization. “But I was honestly very low.”

As more families return to group day care to resume their lives and careers this fall, many parents, pediatricians and care operators have found that new pandemic-based rules not only provide the long-awaited safety layer, but are compatible. I’m aware that it doesn’t seem to be sex. With the reality of reproduction as a child.

They are primarily derived from the coronavirus guidelines issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, lowering the fever threshold, disqualifying diarrhea and vomiting even once, and suspecting snuff in group settings.

However, the guidelines indicate that infants are susceptible to common viral infections that help build the immune system, seasonal allergies, crying, tooth growth, and regular playground exercise are COVID-19-like symptoms. It does not take into account that it can cause. ..

And the price parents and children pay for such symptoms could easily indicate either a happy and healthy infant or a lurking case of a disease that currently kills more than 230,000 people in the United States. There is.

That is a reality that Wheatley is familiar with. Jacob had to turn back on the second day, be tested for coronavirus, and scramble for an appointment with a doctor who wrote a note confirming that the boy was not infected with the virus. did. Jacob took two days to return to preschool, causing anxiety about his health and guilt about neglecting his job.

Medical professionals admit that the lines are blurry for symptomatic children.

The CDC states on its website that, of course, infants usually have up to eight respiratory illnesses or colds each year. The CDC warns in school guidelines from kindergarten to high school that excluding children with COVID-19 symptoms alone for longer than the “existing” policy can lead to unnecessary absences. ..

The latest American Academy of Pediatrics Child Care Guidelines, published in October, initially did not include stuffy nose, runny nose, vomiting, or diarrhea on the symptom checklist. Following a question from the Associated Press, a group of pediatricians updated the recommendation on Friday, including those symptoms consistent with the CDC, calling it surveillance.

Dr. Elaine Donoghue, who helped pediatricians develop childcare guidelines, said that even if it looks vague like COVID-19, the symptoms must be taken seriously. Infants are susceptible to mild infections, but in theory, due to the social distance associated with the pandemic, exposure to these mild illnesses is reduced. That is, the calculations behind assessing changes in symptoms are done.

“During a pandemic, you shouldn’t expect certainty,” Donohue said. “It’s an uncertain time now.”

Day care, considered essential in many states, is one of the few services that has remained open throughout the pandemic, currently lasting nine months, and numerous programs in the United States have been completely shut down. I am.

According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the number of people engaged in childcare has been steadily recovering in recent months. However, the 853,000 workers reported in September recorded a 28% increase from April, but still exceed one million on-site a year ago.

Royce Martin, who runs a community day center for children in Seattle, said the learning curve for her staff has been steep since most of her family returned to day care. Preschool teachers are now required to take on responsibilities that require medical expertise, such as assessing runny nose secretions based on thickness and color.

“This is not the world we want our children to have,” Martin said.

In October, the Child Care Aware of America advocacy group conducted more than 57,000 childcare employees (employees who were active and those who were not) conducted by researchers at Yale University in May and June. We announced a national survey targeting (including members). Positive coronavirus infection or hospitalization among workers. The authors of the study state that this suggests that childcare may be safe from widespread infections during a pandemic if done under such strict guidelines.

Wheatley and her husband saw first-hand the benefits of careful disinfection, social distance, and symptom checking. Day care teachers had a coronavirus in August, but never spread to other workers, children, or families.

As a result, couples with 10-month-old babies believe that future day care interruptions will become part of the new normal and inevitably the child will be expelled again if there is a potential illness. ..

“It’s not sustainable,” Wheatley said. “Our solution will be sucking it up, making us unhappy and eventually moving,” he says, near a family member who can help.

This kind of family burden is worried that Deeann Puffert, CEO of the Washington branch of Child Care Aware, may begin to hide symptoms from caregivers by parents.

“Meeting (health) requirements and maintaining the joy of long-term care and early care is challenging,” says Puffert. “There is no answer.”