Children living in hospitals when parents have COVID

As COVID-19 continues to surge across Canada, the virus has left some children in a surprising and “really difficult” predicament.

With both parents or caregivers hospitalized by the coronavirus and no relatives or friends to look after them, they’ve had to be put up in hospital as a sort of last-ditch foster home.

It hasn’t happened often but the unusual scenario underscores how spread within households amid stay-at-home orders is playing a key role in fuelling the pandemic. With a heavy impact on certain families.

“That’s something we’re really struggling with,” said Dr. Julia Orkin, a Sickkids physician who liaises with community hospitals in the Greater Toronto Area.

“Two parents have to be admitted to hospital, and there’s no caregiver for the child,” she said. “We have seen that on a handful of occasions and that’s been really, really difficult for all teams involved.”

The result in some instances is “families as a whole being admitted to hospital,” said Orkin.

Dr. Michael Warner, intensive care unit head at Toronto’s Michael Garron Hospital, said he hasn’t come across that situation himself, but has heard of it happening at a handful of other GTA hospitals.

Since the pandemic began early last year, Toronto’s Children’s Aid Society has periodically gotten involved when all of a family’s caregivers have fallen ill and “there does not appear to be other caregivers for their children,” said Alicia Pereira, an agency spokeswoman.

Just in the last six months, it has had half a dozen such cases, she said, though in most of those instances the society was able to find a friend or relative to act as a guardian.

“In all situations, Toronto CAS works to keep children within their own communities,” said Pereira. “Where we can, we work with caregivers either prior to or during the hospitalization to make plans for their children.”