Isolating children in a COVID-19 pandemic: A primer

Warning: Becoming lax with isolating your children and teenagers to prevent spreading OVID-19 coronavirus disease can have serious consequences for your family and your community.

True, these age groups are far less likely to become severely ill or die from the disease than adults, says the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). “It’s not that they don’t get infected, and it’s not that they don’t get hospitalized. They are. It’s just that the disease is less severe than it is in adults.” Please see an important addendum at the end of the article.

Parents lax in enforcing isolation generally cite the following: children are only mildly sick, if at all; they know no one who has been infected; live in a part of the country with little OVID-19 activity, or, being cooped up at home for extended periods rattles the nerves of all family members. Or parents cite necessity; having to go to work without daycare or school to mind the kids. In these scenarios, young children end up with relatives or neighbors. Teenagers hangout with friends at each other’s houses or play basketball at an outdoor playground. Likely, maintaining a six-foot (one meter) physical distance from each other is not of prime importance. Nor is asking whether other players on the court have family members at special risk for this disease.

“There is increasing evidence emerging about the role of asymptomatic people in the transmission of COVID-19,” says the AAP. How important the role of young children in the spread has yet to be determined. This virus appears to spread more readily than many other viruses but not as readily as measles, for example. Known is that young children are effective transmitters. They may show no or minor symptoms when infected and because of the acute shortage of testing kits virtually none has been tested.

Also, COVID-19 is transmitted via two routes, mostly via tiny water droplets through the air when an infected individual coughs or sneezes and, less often, by touching objects or surfaces where such droplets have landed. Children’ poor hygienic habits promote both such transmissions. They do not cover their noses or mouths when they sneeze or cough, rarely wash their hands unless reminded and supervised, and enjoy touching objects and surfaces and then placing their fingers in their mouths and noses. Some young children drool a lot. Moreover, many adults cannot resist the urge to hug and kiss young children.

* Lower bound of range = number of persons hospitalized, admitted to ICU, or who died among total in age group; upper bound of range = number of persons hospitalized, admitted to ICU, or who died among total in age group with known hospitalization status, ICU admission status, or death.

Next week: The psychological effects, if any, on children and teenagers from social isolation. (Why is it called ”social isolation’’? Let’s change the name to physical isolation.)

Was this article informative? Sign up to receive similar articles twice a month. Each article covers a single subject to keep kid(s) healthy and safe for travel and outdoor activities. Widely read by healthcare professionals and sophisticated parents around the world.