Bhubaneswar: The special task force, constituted by the Health department to recommend ways to contain the spread of Covid-19, Saturday, recommended several ways to ensure safety of kids during the second wave of the pandemic.
One important aspect of the recommendations is to segregate the kids from the infected persons. The panel also said that a neonate, if born from a Covid infected person and found positive against the viral infection, should also be given to the mother only when she becomes non-infectious.
“Children of Covid-19 positive parents need to be isolated as much as possible. In a hospital set-up, sick babies born to Covid positive mothers are to be isolated and kept in Newborn Stabilisation Unit (NBSU) or Sick Newborn Stabilisation Unit (SNCU) till the mother becomes non-infectious,” the panel said.
The task force also said, “Babies born to Covid positive mothers need to be tested on the same day. If a neonate is found positive for the virus and sick, he/she needs to be admitted to a Covid hospital.”
The panel also talked about home care of the kids. “In case of Covid positive parents in home isolation, the child need to be separated from the infected parents till they become non-infectious and other members of the family are required to take care of these children.”
The panel also said that active surveillance to detect symptomatic kids should be done regularly while Covid appropriate behaviour must be encouraged in them. It also said that kids orphaned by the pandemic should be kept in Child Care Institutions (CCIs).
The task force said that opening of schools should be done keeping in mind the local conditions, effectiveness of remote learning, capacity of schools in terms of safety and other parameters.
PNN