Beacon physician and mom offers parents back-to-school safety advice during pandemic

Dr. Kristine Jennings, director of the Memorial Hospital Family Medicine Residency Program, offers parents of school-age children advice for keeping their kids safe as they return to the classroom.

One of the focal points of the conversations of many of my office visits with my patients, as a family physician, and also the focal point of many of my conversations at home, as a mother of two school-aged children, is how “return to school” should look this year — especially with the start of a new academic year coming off of the heels of a wonderful summer where we were able to enjoy taking a break from our masks given the low cases of coronavirus.

It’s a bit confusing, especially amidst some of the differing recommendations from different school systems, of how we should proceed and approach this new academic year. The CDC guidance, given the increase in Delta variant within the nation, as well as within our community, is recommending universal masking. And I know as a parent that seems a little bit difficult to swallow, especially as we look at sending our kids to another year of school and wanting to create as much normalcy as possible.

But I can’t tell you how important it is to continue to remain vigilant as a community. If we do the things that we need to, to protect transmission for Coronavirus and the Delta variant, that means that our kids will stay healthy and safe. And also, it increases the chances of schools continuing to run throughout the school year without having to return to virtual learning.

In addition to masking, it’s recommended that we continue to use multimodal effects in terms of hand washing and also monitoring of symptoms. So being very mindful of if your kiddos have a fever, runny nose, or any sort of symptoms that may be concerning for Coronavirus, that you keep them home.

I’m hopeful that if we all continue to remain vigilant as a community that we’ll be able to return to normal soon.

I also recommend that any kids over the age of 12 get their vaccination for coronavirus and this will decrease their risk of getting coronavirus, and also if they were to get coronavirus to have severe symptoms. So I encourage you all to encourage your kids to mask up and to make it fun. I know in our household we love Elsa and dinosaurs and it can be a really fun way for your kids to express themselves.

But hopefully, as a community, if we all unite, we can continue to stay safe and healthy.