When will quarantine / mandatory absence from school stop for Covid?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes of course at some point we will get to that point but obviously we’re nowhere close to there now. Were you ready for us to be there 2 weeks ago, just prior to your son catching covid? Would you have been ok with every kid in his class who caught covid coming in 2 days later, if they felt better, or the next day, if mom and dad are out of sick leave? No, probably not. Most of us want people who are in the most contagious part of covid to stay home.

DP, But I don’t get this post. If you agree that we’ll stop doing extended quarantine and isolation periods for Covid at some point, why not now? We’ve got vaccines and booster, so kids (who were already at low risk) are well protected. What do you think is going to change in a month/year/decade?

I won’t care anymore when 1) we have a vaccine for kids under 5 and 2) when we have a treatment (or way to prevent) long covid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes of course at some point we will get to that point but obviously we’re nowhere close to there now. Were you ready for us to be there 2 weeks ago, just prior to your son catching covid? Would you have been ok with every kid in his class who caught covid coming in 2 days later, if they felt better, or the next day, if mom and dad are out of sick leave? No, probably not. Most of us want people who are in the most contagious part of covid to stay home.

DP, But I don’t get this post. If you agree that we’ll stop doing extended quarantine and isolation periods for Covid at some point, why not now? We’ve got vaccines and booster, so kids (who were already at low risk) are well protected. What do you think is going to change in a month/year/decade?

I won’t care anymore when 1) we have a vaccine for kids under 5 and 2) when we have a treatment (or way to prevent) long covid.

We’ll have a vaccine for kids under 5 in June.

Long Covid isn’t what you seem to think it is. As the recent studies show, there's no indication there is anything physiologically wrong with the vast majority of people that say they have long Covid. While I'm sure there's some element of truth to long Covid, as post-viral syndrome, is a well-known phenomenon, there's also clearly a psychological component.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes of course at some point we will get to that point but obviously we’re nowhere close to there now. Were you ready for us to be there 2 weeks ago, just prior to your son catching covid? Would you have been ok with every kid in his class who caught covid coming in 2 days later, if they felt better, or the next day, if mom and dad are out of sick leave? No, probably not. Most of us want people who are in the most contagious part of covid to stay home.

DP, But I don’t get this post. If you agree that we’ll stop doing extended quarantine and isolation periods for Covid at some point, why not now? We’ve got vaccines and booster, so kids (who were already at low risk) are well protected. What do you think is going to change in a month/year/decade?

I won’t care anymore when 1) we have a vaccine for kids under 5 and 2) when we have a treatment (or way to prevent) long covid.

We’ll have a vaccine for kids under 5 in June.

Long Covid isn’t what you seem to think it is. As the recent studies show, there's no indication there is anything physiologically wrong with the vast majority of people that say they have long Covid. While I'm sure there's some element of truth to long Covid, as post-viral syndrome, is a well-known phenomenon, there's also clearly a psychological component.

How will that help?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes of course at some point we will get to that point but obviously we’re nowhere close to there now. Were you ready for us to be there 2 weeks ago, just prior to your son catching covid? Would you have been ok with every kid in his class who caught covid coming in 2 days later, if they felt better, or the next day, if mom and dad are out of sick leave? No, probably not. Most of us want people who are in the most contagious part of covid to stay home.

DP, But I don’t get this post. If you agree that we’ll stop doing extended quarantine and isolation periods for Covid at some point, why not now? We’ve got vaccines and booster, so kids (who were already at low risk) are well protected. What do you think is going to change in a month/year/decade?

I won’t care anymore when 1) we have a vaccine for kids under 5 and 2) when we have a treatment (or way to prevent) long covid.

We’ll have a vaccine for kids under 5 in June.

Long Covid isn’t what you seem to think it is. As the recent studies show, there's no indication there is anything physiologically wrong with the vast majority of people that say they have long Covid. While I'm sure there's some element of truth to long Covid, as post-viral syndrome, is a well-known phenomenon, there's also clearly a psychological component.

How will that help?

The vaccine? I guess it will make people feel better.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes of course at some point we will get to that point but obviously we’re nowhere close to there now. Were you ready for us to be there 2 weeks ago, just prior to your son catching covid? Would you have been ok with every kid in his class who caught covid coming in 2 days later, if they felt better, or the next day, if mom and dad are out of sick leave? No, probably not. Most of us want people who are in the most contagious part of covid to stay home.

DP, But I don’t get this post. If you agree that we’ll stop doing extended quarantine and isolation periods for Covid at some point, why not now? We’ve got vaccines and booster, so kids (who were already at low risk) are well protected. What do you think is going to change in a month/year/decade?

I won’t care anymore when 1) we have a vaccine for kids under 5 and 2) when we have a treatment (or way to prevent) long covid.

1) Why? Kids under 5 are at lower risk from Covid than vaccinated and boosted adults. They are at lower risk from Covid than from RSV (for which we have no vaccine and I don’t think we’re even working on one). Why is a vaccine for this age group the dividing line?

Especially since OP is talking about elementary kids, who CAN be vaccinated. And before you say “well they can spread it and other kids can take it home and infect younger siblings”, please consider logic. Toddlers are much, much lower risk than elderly people who have been vaccinated and boosted, and plenty of kids live with people in this category. So why would the vaccination if this very low risk group be the think that’s finally changes quarantine rules? Will the risk to elderly people suddenly be acceptable because 3 yr olds can be vaccinated? It makes no sense at all.

2) The vast majority of long Covid sufferers have a lingering cough fir a few months, anxiety, general fatigue, ir other ailments for which we do, in fact, have treatments. These are also common lingering symptoms for other respiratory illnesses, including the flu and the aforementioned RSV. There is zero evidence in recent studies that these issues are caused by damage to the respiratory, neurological, or cardiovascular systems.

If I get a cold and then have a lingering cough for a while (something that’s happened to me several times in my life) do I have “long cold”? Do we need to definitely figure that out and come up with unique treatment for this condition before people who recently recovered from colds return to school?

Make it make sense.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Depends on what you mean. The isolation policies will probably technically remain for quite a while, but people will stop testing. If you don’t know it’s Covid, then you can follow the regular rules for illnesses.

Pretty sure a lot of people have stopped testing for minor illness.

OP here - I agree with you and it’s part of what prompted my question. My son is part of the testing pool at school but we also test our son and ourselves when we have cold-like symptoms. I don’t want to spread Covid. But when I shared this with a couple of parents from my son’s school they said not only are they not part of the testing pool but that they long since stopped testing at home for what one parent called “sniffles”. When I asked if they were concerned about Covid they both said that unless the symptoms were severe, in which case they’d keep their kids home, their kids went to school. On one hand that’s frustrating because that’s how Covid spreads but at the same time, my son had what was essentially “the sniffles” and missed a whole week of school.

NP - that’s the rub, OP. The policies around isolation are, IMO, too restrictive based on the severity of illness we see in the overwhelming majority of kids. And now that vaccines and therapeutics are available for adults, it’s hard to argue for restrictions this substantial. We pulled our kids from the PCR testing pool at school for just this reason: I don’t want my asymptomatic kids out of school for a week. I’m done. We’ve gone along for two years with MCPS’ endless restrictions. Our kids have had COVID before (caught with a home test) and we’re all vaccinated, we believe in masks, etc.

And, at the same time, MCPS frankly needs to change its priorities. I don’t think mandatory absence/enforced isolation will change until enough parents start to opt out of random testing. At this point, they’re encouraging parents not to test for “the sniffles.”

I agree with you and while one week with a kid who was bouncing off the walls at home because he basically felt totally fine was doable, it’s not something I want for him or us. I don’t work from home anymore and neither does DH. I absolutely take time off if my child is seriously ill and so does DH. But staying home from work for this was frustrating and it wouldn’t be sustainable for us if this is a regular thing.

Its not about you, its about public health and your child is sick.

When some of us sacrifice for public health despite the very mild symptoms of current Covid strains and our kids are out for a week but have less severe symptoms than disease that doesn’t require the quarantine then it’s more than a public health issue (if it is one). It’s now a socio-economic issue. Are parents who work hourly jobs or don’t have infinite time off adversely affected? Are students who already had 18 months of virtual and differed dearly for it in the lower grades now even more disadvantaged? Why should I play by the rules when my kid is feeling fine despite a positive test while others send their kid to school regardless of a runny nose?

I’m the 18:58 PP from yesterday - and my response to “it’s about public health” is that, first, someone asymptomatic who tests positive on a PCR isn’t necessarily a public health issue. PCRs can pick up positives long after someone is contagious.

Second, COVID is not the only public health issue out there. MCPS has prioritized this one public health issue (COVID) over others, such as mental health and literacy. That made sense in Spring of 2020. Now? Not so much. I mean, there are kids in my DD’s 4th grade class who can’t read. That’s what happens when they miss the last quarter of second grade and almost all of third grade (please don’t tell me that virtual suffices for teaching unsupervised children how to read). What are the plans to catch them up? *That* needs to be the priority right now, not endless PCR surveillance testing.

[Anonymous]

As a parent of a child under 2, I have no sympathy for those complaining about a sick 8 year old being home for 5 days (I have one of those, too.) It's the daycare 10 day quarantines for exposures that need to change.

[Anonymous]

This is the OP. Thank you for the thoughtful responses and perspectives. You’ve given me a lot to think about. I agree with the posters who note the impact of quarantine on kids who’ve already suffered from lack of in person school (my son included) and yet face being pulled out of school for symptoms less severe than other diseases that don’t require draconian quarantine.

Will also note that the asynchronous learning my son had this week - a module of reading and a model of math - was hardly a substitute for any of the content he’d be doing in his class. DH and I added some content and activities but if he were out for more than a week and/or was already behind it would be disastrous for his learning.

It will be interesting to see if the county / public health officials update the guidance for cases where symptoms are so light. I’m going to withdraw my kids from the testing pool next year if the Covid variants continue to be so mild for vaccinated people. I’m not sending a clearly sick kid with a fever and heavy cough to school, or sending a child with no appetite, vomiting, diarrhea, etc. But the flip of it is I’m not keeping my very healthy child who has been symptom free for 48 hours home. I’m done.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As a parent of a child under 2, I have no sympathy for those complaining about a sick 8 year old being home for 5 days (I have one of those, too.) It's the daycare 10 day quarantines for exposures that need to change.

Wholeheartedly agree.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is the OP. Thank you for the thoughtful responses and perspectives. You’ve given me a lot to think about. I agree with the posters who note the impact of quarantine on kids who’ve already suffered from lack of in person school (my son included) and yet face being pulled out of school for symptoms less severe than other diseases that don’t require draconian quarantine.

Will also note that the asynchronous learning my son had this week - a module of reading and a model of math - was hardly a substitute for any of the content he’d be doing in his class. DH and I added some content and activities but if he were out for more than a week and/or was already behind it would be disastrous for his learning.

It will be interesting to see if the county / public health officials update the guidance for cases where symptoms are so light. I’m going to withdraw my kids from the testing pool next year if the Covid variants continue to be so mild for vaccinated people. I’m not sending a clearly sick kid with a fever and heavy cough to school, or sending a child with no appetite, vomiting, diarrhea, etc. But the flip of it is I’m not keeping my very healthy child who has been symptom free for 48 hours home. I’m done.

Fwiw, all it takes is an email to the principal to revoke consent immediately for school testing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As a parent of a child under 2, I have no sympathy for those complaining about a sick 8 year old being home for 5 days (I have one of those, too.) It's the daycare 10 day quarantines for exposures that need to change.

Right, but schools keeping their ridiculous policies only makes it harder to convince daycares and preschools to change theirs.

[Anonymous]

We need to stop testing. We never test for COVID and send our kid to school only when healthy. That means if he has a sore throat one day he stays home, but if he feels better the next, he goes to school. Nobody can make you test. Time to get back to normalcy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We need to stop testing. We never test for COVID and send our kid to school only when healthy. That means if he has a sore throat one day he stays home, but if he feels better the next, he goes to school. Nobody can make you test. Time to get back to normalcy.

Don’t tell, don’t tell is the only way to get back to normalcy.

No one ever told the school when their child had the flu. If you called at all, you would just say your kid was sick and wouldn’t be going in. We’re well overdue to treat Covid the same way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We need to stop testing. We never test for COVID and send our kid to school only when healthy. That means if he has a sore throat one day he stays home, but if he feels better the next, he goes to school. Nobody can make you test. Time to get back to normalcy.

Don’t tell, don’t tell is the only way to get back to normalcy.

No one ever told the school when their child had the flu. If you called at all, you would just say your kid was sick and wouldn’t be going in. We’re well overdue to treat Covid the same way.

+1 I keep my child home when they are sick and for 24-48 hours after the last symptom. I’m not keeping my healthy child home.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We need to stop testing. We never test for COVID and send our kid to school only when healthy. That means if he has a sore throat one day he stays home, but if he feels better the next, he goes to school. Nobody can make you test. Time to get back to normalcy.

Don’t tell, don’t tell is the only way to get back to normalcy.

No one ever told the school when their child had the flu. If you called at all, you would just say your kid was sick and wouldn’t be going in. We’re well overdue to treat Covid the same way.

Yes because sick teachers are irrelevant to schools. We only send our children to school to get them out of the house. It makes no difference if there is no teacher in the classroom. They are not important. Just get the kids out of sight.