During the peak of COVID-19 quarantine keep young children indoors.
I am alarmed by what I see outside of my home during the COVID-19 quarantine. I see children on bikes, parents pushing babies in strollers, and families with young children leisurely walking around and the children do not have on masks.
Some people in my area are being pretty nonchalant about the quarantine.
Esteemed journals including the New England Journal of Medicine and the Journal of the American Medical Association have stated within the last two weeks that there is evidence to suggest that COVID-19 is airborne.
On the East Coast, the peak of the Coronavirus Pandemic is coming.
The WCCO newsroom put out a graph by Dr. Martin stating that COVID 19 is now killing more people on average daily than cancer and heart disease.
We already know COVID-19 is killing Black owing to a disparity in care and impacting Indigenous people at higher rates.
The CDC recommends any child over 2 years of age wear a mask. If most 5 years olds can’t keep on sunglasses, they are going to have a challenging time playing in a mask.
“With more and more schools closing and people working from home, it may be tempting to get kids together for playdates or sleepovers, or to think that gatherings of more than 10 people are safe. But social distancing only works if we all participate. And slowing down or preventing the spread of the virus will save lives,” American Pediatrics Academy.
That means limiting going outside, especially in locations like NY metro with high population densities.
Preliminary studies suggest that like the measles, the coronavirus can remain in the air hours after an infected person has left.
“We analyzed the aerosol and surface stability of SARS-CoV-2 and compared it with SARS-CoV-1, the most closely related human coronavirus. Our results indicate that aerosol and fomite transmission of SARS-CoV-2 is plausible, since the virus can remain viable and infectious in aerosols for hours and on surfaces up to days (depending on the inoculum shed). These findings echo those with SARS-CoV-1, in which these forms of transmission were associated with nosocomial [originating in a hospital] spread and super-spreading events,” New England Journal of Medicine.
“While all individuals were confirmed positive for SARS-CoV-2, symptoms and viral shedding to the environment varied considerably. Many commonly used items, toilet facilities, and air samples had evidence of viral contamination, indicating that SARS-CoV-2 is shed to the environment as expired particles, during toileting, and through contact with fomites [objects likely to carry infection]. Disease spread through both direct (droplet and person-to-person) as well as indirect contact (contaminated objects and airborne transmission) are indicated, supporting the use of airborne isolation precautions,” University of Nebraska Medical Center.
A recent study by the Journal of America Medical Association suggests that the virus can travel 23-27 feet and remain in the air.
Epidemiologists, people who study disease cannot say with 100% certainty if the coronavirus is or is not spread by air.
Why would you take that kind of risk with your children?
There should be no leisurely walks during the peak of the pandemic in your area, especially if you live in a densely populated city and while I understand it is hard, it must be done to keep your family and community safe.
Lark Sontag
Children’s Book Author, Early Childhood Education Specialist, Curriculum Developer, and Social Justice Advocate for Children
References
(2020, March 31) Social Distancing- HealthyChildren.org.https://www.healthychildren.org/English/health-issues/conditions/chest-lungs/Pages/Social-Distancing-Why-Keeping-Your-Distance-Helps-Keep-Others-Safe.aspx. Accessed 6 Apr. 2020
“Transmission of Measles | CDC.” https://www.cdc.gov/measles/transmission.html. Accessed 6 Apr. 2020.
(2020, March 17). Aerosol and Surface Stability of SARS-CoV-2 as Compared …. Retrieved April 6, 2020, from https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMc2004973
(2020, March 11). Transmission Potential of SARS-CoV-2 in Viral Shedding …. Retrieved April 6, 2020, from https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.03.23.20039446v2.full.pdf
(2020, March 26). Turbulent Gas Clouds and Respiratory Pathogen Emissions …. Retrieved April 6, 2020, from https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2763852