Getting a child tested isn’t easy
When Audrey Blute’s almost 2year-old son George had a runny nose in July, she wanted to do what she felt was responsible: Get him tested for coronavirus. It wasn’t easy.
Blute, 34, planned to walk to one of Washington, D.C.’s free testing sites — until she learned they don’t test children younger than 6. She called her pediatrician’s office, which also declined to test George.
As child care centers and schools reopen, parents are encountering another coronavirus testing bottleneck: Few sites will test children.
Even in large cities with dozens of test sites, parents are driving long distances and calling multiple centers to track down one accepting children.
The age policies at testing sites reflect a range of concerns, including differences in health insurance, medical privacy rules, holes in test approval, and fears of squirmy or shrieking children.
The limited testing hampers schools’ ability to quickly isolate and trace coronavirus cases among students. It also could create a new burden on working parents, with some schools and child care centers requiring symptomatic children to test negative for coronavirus before rejoining class.
“There is no good reason not to do it in kids,” said Sean O’Leary, a Colorado pediatrician who sits on the American Academy of Pediatrics’ committee on infectious diseases. “It’s a matter of people not being comfortable with doing it.”
Many testing sites, including those run by cities and states, don’t test any children or set age minimums that exclude young children. The age limits vary widely from place to place.
The District of Columbia decided not to test young children at its public sites because children have nearly universal health coverage in the city, meaning they could be tested at a pediatrician’s office.
In Florida, the Division of Emergency Management announced last month that it would “prioritize” pediatric testing as students there begin to return to in-person school. Still, only a quarter of the 60 testing sites the agency supports will see children of all ages.
The state’s 18 drive-thru sites are limited to patients 5 and older, but did recently add priority lanes for symptomatic children.
Large pharmacy chains generally have catered to adults.
Walgreens doesn’t see children at its drive-thru clinics. CVS Health initially accepted only adult patients but dropped the age minimum to 16 in August and is in the process of lowering it to 12 this month.