A leading Irish doctor says that children who have the sniffles but are ‘otherwise well’ can go to school.
Dr Mary Favier, who is the President of the Irish College of General Practitioners, issued some advice to parents ahead of the reopening of schools at last night’s Depart of Health Covid-19 press briefing.
She said: “We all know that some children always have a runny nose and are wiping it on their sleeve but are otherwise fit and healthy.
“If a child is otherwise well, doesn’t have any respiratory symptoms, doesn’t have a cough, but just constantly sniffles and sneezes the odd time, then they can and should go to school.
“But a child who has more than that, such as a temperature, a cough or any of the symptoms that might suggest they have Covid-19 – such as being unable to taste food – they should not go to school.”
However, she did have a warning around asymptomatic transmission in children.
She said: “Parents should remain vigilant around symptoms and keep their children isolated at home if they are experiencing fever, cough, shortness of breath, flu like symptoms, loss of taste or smell.
“Parents should also remain aware of asymptomatic transmission – like some adults, children may not present symptoms but can still carry the virus.
“If you have vulnerable people in your limited network, ensure physical distancing is adhered to and encourage regular hand washing habits with your child.”
Last night, 147 new cases of Coronavirus were diagnosed in Ireland.
73 of these cases are in Dublin, 17 in Kildare, 12 in Offaly, 11 in Wicklow, 9 in Limerick and the remaining 25 cases are in Carlow, Clare, Cork, Donegal, Galway, Laois, Louth, Meath, Monaghan, Tipperary and Wexford.
There have been 1,354 cases in the last 14 days. 457 of them are in Dublin, 327 in Kildare, 91 in Tipperary, 82 in Limerick, 38 in Meath, 36 in Offaly and 35 in Laois remaining in 18 counties.
There is now a total of 28,116 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Ireland – while Dr Ronan Glynn says that 3% of these cases are in children under 14.
SEE ALSO – Coronavirus: No new deaths and 147 new cases as first official case of reinfection emerges
