This is what you should do to prevent infections when your child returns from school, according to doctors

The fear that the return of children to schools and the start of the course will trigger the spread of Covid-19 has been a topic of conversation for weeks. The focus has focused, above all, on the exceptional measures that nurseries, schools and institutes had to adopt to protect the health of teachers and students and on how the protocols established by public administrations were applied in each school to reduce the risk of contagion. . But prevention, doctors warn, is not only about what the directors of the centers or each teacher in their class do, but also matters, and a lot, what each family does at home, both before and, above all, after the child goes to school.

“Parents must teach our children good hygiene and habits to avoid contagion. As in academic education, in this case our role is also fundamental. We must set an example in cleaning and disinfecting the home and the entire environment of our children. We must be constant and insist that they wear spare masks, a cover to store them, use hydroalcoholic gel if soap cannot be used, and not share towels or toys or electronic devices such as mobile phones or calculators, ”explains Javier Massaguer, medical director of the HM Nens pediatric hospital in Barcelona.

In this regard, the Official College of Physicians of Madrid (Icomem) has prepared a list of advice for families that address issues related to hygiene habits, physical distancing or appreciation of symptoms.

There are two basic and fundamental recommendations for a safe return to school and to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus pandemic. The first, to be particularly attentive to the state of health of the children or other minors who depend on one. Check daily if he has a cough, fever or headache and, in those cases, not taking him to school is a golden rule.

The second, probably more painful to apply and no less important, according to doctors, is to minimize children's contact with grandparents or elderly relatives or guardians once classes begin. And that is a measure that will require explaining with patience and a lot of pedagogy to the little ones, so that they understand a physical distance that, on the other hand, does not have to imply affective or emotional distance.

It is advised to minimize the child's contact with grandparents or other elderly relatives

In fact, both doctors and other specialists emphasize that the priority right now for children and families is that with the start of classes, families should restrict their social life and avoid all social contacts that are not strictly necessary. to avoid “mixing” contact groups and not contributing to the possible spread of the virus.

“The priority at the moment is for children to recover face-to-face education, to return to school, to interact with their peers, and for this it is worth doing everything possible to reduce other contacts or avoid out-of-school contacts for the time being, without that this means stopping doing things that can be done, such as going to the park or maintaining the contacts that are usual”, comments José Ramón Ubieto, psychologist and professor at the UOC.

“The school is going to become a fundamental pivot in children's health and is the best environment to guarantee their normal life. First, because children need to be with other children. But it is that, in addition, the school will be a tool that will facilitate early diagnosis. That is to say, from the schools, symptoms of possible contagion will be identified, with which the protocols marked for isolation, PCR tests or confinement will be activated if necessary. Finally, it will be of great help as a virus traceability tracker. It will be much easier to find the origin of the infection and possible affected people to act accordingly in each case”, says Dr. Massaguer.

But a safe return to school also implies a series of hygiene habits that must be incorporated into daily domestic routines. Upon returning from the classroom, it is no longer useful to enter the house, drop the backpack, go through the fridge and throw yourself on the sofa to have a snack. Doctors assure that, if you want to prevent infections, there are a series of new guidelines that must be followed:

1. Have the child take off their shoes on the landing or in the doorway.

2. Go straight to the bathroom or kitchen to wash your hands well with soap and water.

3. Take a good shower when you come home from school.

4. Change clothes and leave school clothes airing, if possible exposed to sunlight.

5. Clothes, towels and sheets must be washed in the washing machine at temperatures above 40º.

6. Wash the lunch box and cutlery used at school with soap and water, and if possible in the dishwasher at a temperature of 60º.

7. Clean the kitchen and bathroom with a detergent that contains bleach or add 25 milliliters of bleach to a liter and a half of water to clean and use cloths, scouring pads or disposable cloths.

8. Ventilate the common areas of the house well and often.

On the other hand, doctors advise parents and teachers to make children aware of basic protection measures at school, such as the need not to share toys or school supplies, to wear a mask, to cover themselves with their arms if they cough and to use paper tissues to blow your nose or clean yourself and immediately throw them in the bin, among others.

It is also a good time to establish new routines at home and get children to disengage from screens and the abuse in their use that many drag from confinement.