On October 1st, 2020, the Ministry of Health updated their COVID-19 testing guidelines for school-aged children and youth. Below you will find MFHT’s interpretation of the advice that is being shared with students and their families. It is our hope that this summary will help parents and caregivers understand when it’s considered safe to send their child(ren) to school.
When to use the COVID-19 school and child care screening tool
To help keep everyone safe, it is recommended to screen your child(ren) every day before school. To help you through the screening process, consider using the COVID-19 School Screening Tool that can be found on the following website: https://covid-19.ontario.ca/school-screening/. If you prefer to use the tool offline, you can download and print the screening tool for your reference.
When assessing your child or youth for symptoms, focus on whether they are new, worsening, or different from their baseline health status or usual state. Unfortunately, there is no way of knowing the difference between a cold or flu and COVID-19. Therefore, the safest and most responsible thing to do when your child develops symptoms that are not typical for them is to stay home. However, if the symptoms are considered normal/usual for your child and are associated with a known chronic health condition or other known causes/conditions (e.g. allergies, asthma), they can go to school.
When to keep your child home from school
Your child should stay home, self-isolate and seek COVID-19 testing if they have any ONE of the following new or worsening symptoms:
- Fever and/or chills (temperature of 37.8 °C or higher)
- Cough (including barking cough, making a whistling noise when breathing)
- Shortness of breath (out of breath, unable to breathe deeply, wheeze)
- Decrease or loss of smell or taste
If your child has any ONE of the symptoms listed below, they should stay home for 24 hours from when the symptoms started and be monitored to see whether the symptoms get better or worse. They may return to school when the symptom starts to improve and when they feel well enough to do so. If the symptom gets worse, you should contact the clinic for further advice. If your child has TWO OR MORE of the symptoms listed below, they should stay home, self-isolate and seek COVID-19 testing.
- Sore throat and/or trouble swallowing
- Runny, stuffy or congested nose
- Headache that’s unusual or long lasting
- Nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, or stomach pain
- Muscle aches that are unusual or long lasting
- Unexplained fatigue (lack of energy)
- Sluggishness or lack of appetite (especially in young children)
Even if your child doesn’t have symptoms of COVID-19, they will be required to stay home and self-isolate if any of the following apply:
- They have travelled outside of Canada in the last 14 days
- They have been in close contact with someone with confirmed COVID-19 in the last 14 days (a close contact is someone that you live with or has been within 2 meters of you for more than 15 minutes)
- They have been told by a health care provider (including public health officials) to self-isolate
When to return to school
If your child tests negative for COVID-19, they can return to school if all the following apply:
- They do not have a fever (without using medication)
- It has been at least 24 hours since their symptoms started improving (if they had symptoms)
If your child does not get tested for COVID-19, they should isolate for 14 days, unless all the following apply:
- A health care provider diagnosed them with another illness
- They do not have a fever (without using medication)
- It has been at least 24 hours since their symptoms started improving (if they had symptoms)
When to self-isolate
As a parent or caregiver, you may be wondering what to do if your child is required to self-isolate due to the onset of COVID-19 symptoms. Should you be self-isolating and getting tested for COVID-19, too?
Whether you need to self-isolate will depend on your symptoms and your child’s exposure to COVID-19. An “exposure” is considered to be any international travel, contact with a confirmed case of COVID-19 or attendance at a facility that is under an outbreak of COVID-19 in the past 14 days.
At this time, you (and the other household members of the child with symptoms) can continue to go to work and/or participate in your usual activities as long as you do not develop symptoms. Self-monitor for symptoms for 14 days and if you begin to feel unwell, stay home and seek COVID-19 testing.
If your child has an exposure, they must self-isolate for 14 days even if they don’t develop symptoms and test negative for COVID-19. As long as your child does not develop symptoms, you and other household members do not need to self-isolate. However, if your child develops symptoms within the 14-day isolation period, all members of your household must self-isolate and get tested for COVID-19. All household members can stop self-isolating 14 days after their last exposure and if their COVID-19 test result is negative.
MFHT recognizes that deciding to keep your child home from school can result in a cascade of events, such as needing to stay home from work to care for your child, booking COVID-19 testing and making temporary home-schooling arrangements. Although it may seem like a nuisance, remember that keeping your child home from school when they are feeling unwell is for the greater good – it will help protect their peers, teachers and other school personnel while limiting the spread of their illness in our schools and communities.
If you have any questions, please call the Thunder Bay District Health Unit at 807-229-1820 or visit https://www.tbdhu.com/safereturn_parents. Public health professionals are here to support you during this transition and to provide you with the most up-to-date recommendations regarding a safe return to school.
