On 18th March 2020, the cumulative number of cases of Covid-19 in India was 147, including 3 fatalities reported from Bangalore, Delhi, and Mumbai. The novel coronavirus strain that made its debut in Wuhan, China has spread to almost 140 countries and is considered one of the deadliest diseases to have plagued humankind in several decades.
In India, Maharashtra has become the epicentre of the coronavirus disease with the largest share of confirmed cases and one death. It is followed by Kerala, which is where the first confirmed case of coronavirus was reported in India.
Taking the example of different countries and also bringing into consideration the effect of COVID-19 in India, several state governments across the nation have implemented desperate measures to prohibit any formation of large-scale gatherings. It includes schools, colleges, and other educational institution shutdowns.
These are uncertain times as health experts across the world are unable to anticipate what direction this pandemic would take in the future. Albeit their relentless efforts to understand and find a cure to the coronavirus infection, health experts have yet not reached any conclusive information.
In these circumstances, it falls on you to ensure that your child stays secure. You should closely monitor your child, ensure he/she is maintaining proper respiratory hygiene, and take note if they are showing any symptoms of the coronavirus disease.
What are the Symptoms of COVID-19?
Before we jump on to the restrictions you need to impose if your child shows any signs of contracting COVID-19, let’s take a look at the symptoms of coronavirus:
Fever
Common cold
Fatigue
Body aches
Runny nose
Shortness of breath
Sore throat
Pneumonia
Respiratory complications
Better safe than sorry is the hymn of the hour, and hence, if your child shows mild symptoms of COVID-19, you should duly follow certain restrictions to prevent the spread of this superlatively contagious disease.
What to Do if Your Child is Sick?
You need to follow many restrictions and measures in case your child develops or might have developed coronavirus symptoms, based on the severity. These measures are as follows.
Contact your doctor
Some of the coronavirus symptoms resemble those existing in patients contracting flu. Hence, instead of panicking, when your child starts to cough or sneeze, contact your doctor or local health authorities and confirm it.
In case you need to visit the respective medical institution for your child’s check-up, make sure that you drop a call beforehand to alert them. This way, the medical authority can take adequate measures to ensure theirs and other’s safety.
If your child is tested positive with COVID-19, medical practitioners can guide you through the protocol that your child would need to follow.
Quarantine your child
You ought to ensure that other members of your family, including yourself, do not come in direct or close contact with your child if he/she is ill with coronavirus. Put him/her in a separate room and ensure you take necessary measures if you are tending to the sick person directly.
Make them wear a mask
This measure is to ensure that the virus does not spread from your child to other members of your family. A mask ensures that the virus does not transmit to others, and therefore, wearing it is quintessential if your child is tested positive for coronavirus infection.
In case your child is unable to wear the mask due to reasons such as breathing difficulty, then the other family members, including you should wear a mask so as not to contract the virus.
Sterilise the house
If your child is diagnosed with the coronavirus disease, conduct thorough sterilisation and cleaning of your house immediately after. Symptoms appear somewhat between 2 to 14 days after the SARS-CoV 2 enters one’s respiratory system.
Therefore, the probability that he/she might have infected other surfaces or items in your house before a diagnosis is high. Sterilisation in that scenario would ensure that the viruses are killed, and further contraction of the virus by other family members is limited.
It is all the more beneficial if you conduct regular sterilisation and cleaning of surfaces that might be contaminated to prevent its contraction by other family members.
Allot different household items for your child
The coronavirus infection spreads through contact. Hence, you must provide your child with separate household items, which your other family members shall not use under any circumstance.
Also, if possible, allot your sick child a different washroom and disinfect it at regular intervals.
Ask them to maintain proper respiratory hygiene
The most effective way to counter the novel coronavirus infection is through maintenance of proper respiratory hygiene and etiquettes. It forms a crucial part of not only prevention but also recovery of the disease.
Prescribed hygiene includes the following steps:
Washing hands at regular intervals for at least 20 seconds with soap and water or alcohol-based hand sanitizer.
Covering mouth and nose with flexed elbows or tissue.
Refraining from touching nose, mouth, and eyes.
Alongside your child, other family members should also follow these steps to prevent the coronavirus infection from spreading.
While it concludes the list of restrictions and measures you need to follow if your child has fallen sick with the coronavirus disease, there is another measure you need to take.
Monitor your child’s symptoms
Alongside ensuring that your child is kept in a strict regime for his/her recovery, you also need to keep track of their symptoms regularly. Check their body temperature every day and see if their health is getting better or worsening. Also, stay in contact with your doctor and keep them updated on any developments.
What are the Prerequisites to Leave Home or Discontinue Quarantine?
You must be wondering when to make the call that your child can leave his/her home isolation either to have a check-up or for good.
While the latter would come from diagnosis results by your healthcare provider, there are certain prerequisites which your child needs to meet before it is safe that he/she gets out of isolation for a check-up.
These are –
Your child does not have a fever for more than 72 hours without the usage of any medicines.
Coronavirus symptoms have reduced in intensity or died down.
A minimum of 7 days has passed since he/she showed symptoms for the first time.
Your child can leave their isolation and visit a healthcare provider only after these conditions are met. Finally, your child can be discounted for being contagious if diagnosis reveals negative results twice in a row, and hence makes it safe to get out of quarantine. Both the tests must, however, be carried out 24 hours from each other.
Quarantine brings about significant lifestyle changes and its implications are more pronounced when it comes to a child. Although it is necessary for his/her physical health, it might adversely affect them mentally. Under such circumstance, consider engaging them in different activities to ward off their boredom.
As collateral damage, your child might also fall behind on his/her studies. And, in times of such fierce competition, it can be a significant setback in their academic progress. As an alternative, you can consider our online classes which are enjoyable and at the same time valuable.
Vedantu in the Time of Quarantine
Understanding the dire straits students and parents find themselves in this time of crisis, we have made our masterclasses free for students.
Why?
Because we realise the importance of education; and in a time when most state governments have shut down schools, students must keep advancing their educational learning, unperturbed by the pandemic.
These classes are available for standards 1 – 12. Plus, special classes for the preparation of competitive examinations like JEE and NEET are also available for free. Students can participate in these live classes through our website or app on their computers or handheld devices. Students can post their doubts on the Q&A section, and respective teachers will clear these doubts at the end of each lesson. While you focus on your child’s health and well-being when they are in quarantine, you can leave their academics to us. Now keep your child's preparation undeterred with our study material and NCERT Solutions Class 1 to 12 all subjects available on the Vedantu site.
