How to protect your child’s health from COVID when school reopens
NSW schools are about to open and many parents are worried. Parents who have children with existing illnesses such as asthma or allergies may be feeling particularly anxious, rightfully so. Dr Deepti Gurdasani, clinical epidemiologist at London's Queen Mary's University, is concerned that children with pre-existing illnesses may be at greater individual risk.
"One to three percent of unvaccinated Australian children may become hospitalised with COVID-19", forecasted by OzSAGE, a multi-disciplinary network of Australian experts focused on the well-being of the Australian population during the pandemic.
Looking overseas, cases continue to rise largely in children in countries like the US and UK, and children continue to be hospitalised or worse.
Dr Fauci, U.S. government's top infectious disease expert, points out that the US "has lost more children from Sars-CoV-2 than we ever lose to influenza," and he stresses that long term effects of infection aren't known for kids yet. These facts along with disruption within education require serious steps in ensuring safety during these uncertain times.
Labor Senator Katy Gallagher, who chairs the Senate committee monitoring the Government response to the pandemic, has a personal experience when her 14 year old daughter became "intensely unwell" with Covid-19. She was able to care for her in their ACT home with the support of twice-daily telehealth GP appointments.
However, "what about the families who don't have the advantages of hers: a house big enough to isolate in, a GP and pharmacist on call, a guaranteed income while a parent cares for a sick child?", Gallagher questions.
The answer is Family Care Hub, where Australian families can better manage their children’s well-being on our digital platform to establish a baseline of their children’s underlying condition.
The baseline will assist in the early detection of any worsening of their underlying condition, triggering early intervention. For example, in an environment with circulating covid cases, a worsening cough may be the catalyst for a cautionary covid test.
Furthermore, Family Care Hub allows you to collaborate with multiple carers for the delivery of health care in one family, making it easier to observe, record, coordinate and communicate care for all family members.
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Find out how Family Care Hub can help you manage your family's health and care needs in one platform:
As Australian schools are opening up, how can parents who have children with existing illnesses reduce the anxious of their children returning back to school?
