You may be asking questions like:

“Does my child still need to wear a mask?”

“What does this mean for my child’s school?”

“Can we have a normal spring break?”

Mandate or no mandate, unfortunately COVID-19 is still spreading in our community. This means unvaccinated people, including children, are still at risk for developing the disease and severe symptoms.

According to Marc Mazade, M.D., medical director of Infection Prevention and Control at Cook Children's Medical Center, Tarrant County (and many other Texas counties) remain in a state of substantial transmission according to public health advisories. This means large-scale community transmission is still occurring, including within communal settings such as schools and workplaces.

At Cook Children’s, the number of COVID-19 patients has dropped dramatically since peaking in January. Our rate of patients testing positive within a seven day period is now below 4%. At the beginning of 2021, that rate was over 20%, meaning we are making progress. (See chart below.)

To continue this trend, Dr. Mazade says we must remain vigilant, especially in schools.

“Shortly after Memorial Day 2020, we released our ‘Recommendations for the Safe Reopening of Schools K-12 in Texas,’ which urged the wearing of masks in schools and elsewhere in the community,” said Dr. Mazade. “Our recommendations have not changed as they were developed with a scientific understanding of how infections spread and of basic human nature.”

Dr. Mazade urges everyone to revisit these recommendations and says they are as important today as ever.

“As most people are now aware, more highly transmissible and even some vaccine-resistant COVID-19 strains are gaining a foothold. Now is not the time to relax. Rather it is the time for even more vigilance,” said Dr. Mazade.

With spring break coming up (or even in full swing for some), it’s vital to remember the basics of COVID-19 prevention:

• Wear a mask around people outside of your household
• Stay six feet away from others
• Wash your hands diligently

“We all want to get back to normal, but this spring break is not the time to let your guard down,” said Dr. Mazade.

This message could seem confusing with changes like the Texas mask mandate expiring and a new direction from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that says fully-vaccinated people can gather without masks. Despite these changes, parents need to stay the course until children are able to be vaccinated against COVID-19, which could happen later this year.

“We must trust the people who best understand what we are up against and how best to combat it and follow their lead,” he said. “When the CDC eradicated smallpox, it did so because it never stopped pressing, diligently researching disease clusters, vaccinating everyone wherever disease emerged, never abandoning the objective. We all would do well to remember that we live and interact closely with many beloved yet vulnerable teachers, students, and family members who benefit from our diligent adherence to public health guidance.”

One thing that thankfully keeps me connected with my patients is technology – I’m still doing plenty of daily video visits on MyChart. I’m actually really surprised how many emails I’ve been getting about kids getting sick.

You’d think with everyone locked in their house, this wouldn’t be happening, right?

Fevers, sore throats, runny noses, rashes, coughs – yes, some of this might be community coronavirus infection and yes, I understand freaking out right now if your child has any of these symptoms. Just remember, kids are known to mostly get mild cases.

I’m willing to bet a lot of it is just the same stuff we see all the time in the Spring: colds, allergies, strep throat, poison ivy, Hand Foot and Mouth, pinkeye, tummy bugs, etc. But how are they getting it?

I guess one of the only good things about the coronavirus pandemic is people are learning more and more about how viruses (and bacteria, and other germs) work.

My theories about why kids are getting sick during quarantine:

• Asymptomatic carrier - Sometimes a person has a virus or bacteria inside them, and for some reason, they show no signs or symptoms of it. Let’s say Dad is an essential worker and still goes to the office or warehouse. He touches a door handle that his co-worker touched. He rubbed his eye after. Let’s say it’s a cold virus. Dad then brings home a cold virus in his body – he may show absolutely zero symptoms of it – and after a week of snuggles with his son, now his son has a fever and a runny nose! What gives? Well – an asymptomatic carrier brought it home. (This is how coronavirus sometimes works too, FYI).
• Allergies are a huge culprit of many of the same symptoms we associate with illness. Sore throats, cough, fatigue, runny nose – it’s easy to confuse a respiratory infection with allergies.
• Viruses and bacteria have incubation periods – sometimes even up to two weeks. Meaning, you caught that germ, but it isn’t showing itself until now. Sometimes, this can really mislead folks in understanding when their child actually caught an illness (it may have been that picnic you went to with friends before the lockdown started).
• Kids put everything in their mouths. Read it again: kids put everything in their mouths. And if you’ve come home from the grocery store with their favorite snack, and didn’t wipe it down, there’s a small chance your kid can catch it from the item. Cardboard, metal, and plastic are all known to harbor germs – sometimes for days. Coronavirus may not be able to live on those surfaces very long, but other more robust ones may thrive on the surface!

A bit of good news we may have missed while being quarantined: The flu is nearly gone now!

I know it’s difficult right now, but try not to grow complacent – stay at home, limit your visits to the store, and wash your hands a ton. We think social distancing is working – but need more time to tell.

In the meantime, try not to worry about mild illness your kids may have. Remember we Cook Children’s pediatricians are still here for you! And are always happy to help you anytime.