Nearly a week before the start of the school year, parents are worried about seeing their children excluded from school or daycare at the slightest cough. Their young people have been denied access to a daycare center or day camp recently, due to a cough, despite having tested negative for COVID-19.
“What will it be when the school opens?” Asks Joey Vitale, whose 5-year-old son cannot return to the daycare center because he is coughing.
Mathéo, 5, suffers from a seasonal allergy. He is awaiting a consultation at the Sainte-Justine University Hospital Center in Montreal for an asthma problem. “He always has a small, dry cough,” his father says.
At the request of the childcare center, the child was tested for COVID-19 last week, which turned out to be negative. “But the CPE told me that if he still coughs, it should be kept at home,” says Joey Vitale, who lives in Saint-Roch-de-l’Achigan, near Mascouche.
Joey Vitale does not question the direction of the CPE, who takes good care of his son and says he follows the directives of Public Health. “I have a social conscience,” he says. We must protect the most vulnerable. But if we are in favor of opening schools and daycare centers, that takes really clear directives. Looks like that leaves too much room for interpretation. “
Heidi Garand believes it too. Her two daughters had colds two weeks ago. One had a sore throat for three days, the other had a fever, cough and nasal congestion. They passed the drug test. Negative. Shortly after, the youngest, a baby, also fell ill.
“I didn’t know if the girls could go back to their home childcare service [étant donné que le bébé était malade], says Heidi Garand. The educator and I called 811, the family ministry, the coordinating office [des services de garde] and Public Health. Everyone told us different things. “
The educator finally ruled: impossible for the two sisters to return to the CPE if the baby shows symptoms, even if the latter’s test is negative.
With cold and flu season approaching, Heidi Garand now fears the worst. “The scenario that worries me is the three sick children who follow one another this fall,” says the mother who is currently on maternity leave. I’m never going to be able to go back to work this winter. “
Directives to be clarified
In an email, the Ministry of Health and Social Services (MSSS) indicates that a child whose screening test for COVID-19 is negative “may return to the SGÉE [services de garde éducatifs à l’enfance] 24 hours after the symptoms disappear ”, as recommended by the Institut national de santé publique du Québec.
The Dre Caroline Quach-Thanh, microbiologist-infectiologist at CHU Sainte-Justine, believes that the MSSS must “clarify” this directive. “If the COVID test is negative and it was taken 24 to 48 hours after the onset of symptoms [pour éviter les faux positifs], childcare services must manage [la situation] like a cold, ”she said. On condition, she stresses, that the children are able to follow the group’s activities and do not have a fever.
The Quebec Association of Early Childhood Centers says it has indicated to the authorities that it wants a “clear protocol” to be established. “For example, the protocol must also take into account the reality of toddlers, namely the possibility of usual childhood ailments such as colds, toothaches, etc. », Specifies its general manager, Geneviève Bélisle.
Symptoms to watch out for
–
In Montreal, the Regional Directorate of Public Health recently clarified the criteria for exclusion and reintegration into daycare, according to a document sent to childcare centers, including The duty was able to take notice. A note qualified as “important” addresses the issue of residual cough.
“The direction of the Cellule des milieu de garde of the Direction générale de la santé publique de Montréal took a position that a person who presented with a cough (+ / – other symptoms) and who had a negative test and who has no other symptoms other than a slight residual cough for at least 24 hours could then return to the daycare service ”, it is written.
Catherine Mathys, she is eager to see how the return to school will unfold. Her 7-year-old triplets had to be tested recently due to a cough. “I have three premature babies who had respiratory problems at birth,” she says. Colds in my house always come with a little cough and it lasts for weeks, because they have this asthmatic condition. “
Despite a negative test, the siblings could not return to their day camp, located in Longueuil. “I found that a shame, and worrying in the light of the beginning of the school year which is approaching, because I say to myself: my God, at the slightest symptom, I will have to take my children out of school, and what they will be able to learn during the year? »Said Catherine Mathys.
In a reminder on COVID-19 posted on the site of school service centers (formerly school boards), it is reported that children with flu-like symptoms, but not having the coronavirus will be able to return to their class 48 hours after the end of the fever (without taking any medication) and 24 hours after a “significant improvement in other symptoms”.
It remains to be seen how institutions will interpret the term “significant improvement in other symptoms”.
Review of the day
Watch video
–
