A runny nose isn’t enough to keep your child at home
PARENTS have been told they can send their children to school with a runny nose but not with a cough, cold or temperature.
Health chiefs last night said that children with a runny nose who are otherwise well can attend school, but that if they show any signs of a cough or a temperature of 38C or more then they should stay at home.
As schools reopen and the winter season of Covid-19 lies ahead, the Government has confirmed the measures for parents on when they can or can’t send their children to school or childcare.
The latest advice states: ‘Most of the time, you do not need to phone your GP if a runny nose or sneezing are your child’s only symptoms. Talk to your pharmacist instead.’
However, it says that if your child has a temperature of 38C or more, and has any other common symptoms of coronavirus such as a new cough, loss or changed sense of taste or smell, or shortness of
‘A lot of anxiety out there for parents’
breath, then they should remain at home.
If they have been in close contact with someone who has tested positive for coronavirus or has been living with someone who is unwell and may test positive, they should also not attend school.
Parents have also been told to encourage kids to walk or cycle to school, and have healthy routines in place including a gradual return to a school term bedtime.
They are to encourage kids to understand the importance of basic public health guidelines such as regular hand washing, and cough and sneeze etiquette, to help curb the spread of Covid-19.
New rules that children will have to abide by when they return to the classroom this week include physical distancing for senior primary and post-primary classes, and face coverings for staff in all schools and post-primary students where a distance of two metres can’t be maintained.
Dr Mary Favier, a GP in Cork, told last night’s health briefing: ‘It is apparent to us as GPs that there is a lot of anxiety out there amongst parents. I speak as a parent myself. One is always concerned about one’s children.’
She continued: ‘The most important thing to say is that it’s okay to not be sure.’
She said it is important for children’s psychological and social health that they go to school, as well as for their education.
‘But what do you do with the kid who’s got a runny nose all the time? If the child is generally well, doesn’t have any other respiratory symptoms, doesn’t have a cough or a temperature, it’s reasonable to say, “I’ll see how they are in the morning”,’ Dr Favier said, adding that children with a temperature, cough, or any symptoms that might suggest Covid, should stay at home for 48 hours.
Acting Chief Medical Officer Dr Ronan Glynn said that, last week, there were 84 cases in children aged under 14, and he expects a similar number this week and next week.
He said that if a case emerged at a school, the public health team would assess which pupils could be considered a close contact.
He added: ‘If your child is deemed a close contact, you will be contacted by the HSE and informed.’
Meanwhile a union has claimed that some teachers with serious illnesses are being told to return to school, despite being in a high-risk category for Covid infections.
ASTI president Ann Piggott said she had recently spoken to a teacher who was being encouraged to return to school despite being classified as a high-risk case due to a history of cancer that led to the removal of a breast and a lung.
‘The list also includes people with diabetes, chronic kidney disease, people who have cancer-weakened immune systems, and they are all being asked to go back to school,’ she said.
Ms Piggott suggested that teachers who were at high risk could be catered for by working at home, virtually, with students who are also high risk due to illnesses.
A spokesman for the ASTI confirmed to the Irish Daily Mail that the union had written to the Minister for Health asking him to help secure a meeting between the union and the Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC).
She said it followed a letter from the HPSC to the ASTI yesterday, refusing the union’s request for such a meeting.
The union Fórsa has also sought an urgent engagement with the Department of Education over concerns that special needs assistants (SNAs) and school secretaries with underlying health conditions could be at risk once schools start to reopen later this week.
The union’s head of education, Andy Pike, said these workers have been told they must work in classrooms without any social distancing, despite clear evidence that they are at high risk.
‘Teachers at risk told to come back’