How to make sense of the ever changing covid guidelines

So many parents are struggling to navigate the tricky balance as some of the quarantine restrictions are lifted. I have gotten many questions about this. 

Having kids that are too young to be vaccinated and little ones who are too young to comply with masks, makes it even more complicated and stressful. As wary as we might be about normalizing, many folks have not seen their extended families since 2019 and are busting to finally visit important people they have been separated from. Zoom is a poor substitute for an enormous, in person hug.

 I started out looking for answers by asking an expert, my friend Dr. Bob Wachter who has been a respected voice during this pandemic. He shared a recent podcast. Here is the link if you want to listen to the hour. It is worthwhile. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/toolkit-safe-or-not-safe-summer-edition/id1504128553?i=1000517710799 

Dr. Bob had two very bright epidemiologists as his guests. The striking thing about listening to them was that they were grappling with the questions of travel, mask/no mask...etc. and they didn’t always agree on how they would answer some of the questions. Alas, there are not always clear answers. 

Every family is unique. People have various levels of concern as well as different levels of risk. Interestingly these don’t always correlate. I know of some at risk families who are fairly bold and families who are really at minimal risk but remain extremely cautious. 

 This is not going to come as news for folks who have read my previous posts, but as usual, it comes down to a risk/benefit analysis. Think about this - I have so many parents who are really nervous about having their babies start eating solids. They are worried about choking. If they had their way, they would only feed pureed food for the first several years! Obviously that isn’t a reasonable choice. Kids need to learn how to eat and chew. Parents need to learn the safest ways to feed and how to do a choking rescue maneuver if needed. 

 In the same vein, there might be some risk involved in leaving the safety of your quarantine bubble, but kids need to be social. Keeping them at home is not an option that I would agree with.

 In an effort to reach a larger audience, Dr. Ted and I did a live Instagram event on June 3rd, and I will do a little summary here for those of you who were not able to join us. 

I am not going to address all of the specific questions that we tackled; instead I will review the basic guidelines that I have used to find the answers. 

 As we grapple with the choices here are some things we know: 

 Outdoors is safer than indoors when it comes to Covid transmission You are unlikely to get COVID from a surface; it spreads from close person to person transmission. At the beginning of the pandemic, I know people who left mail and packages untouched for 72 hours as if they were radioactive. The data came in pretty conclusively that that was unnecessary. No one seems to be doing that anymore. Of course people can still pick up other nasty germs from surfaces, but that is not the focus of this post. 

 Handwashing a great. Make sure you use soap and water for 20 seconds. If you are using hand sanitizer use at least a dime sized amount. No, you don’t have to follow your kids around and wipe down their hands every second, but I would do a good wash when coming in from outdoors and also prior to every meal. 

 Most kids who end up getting COVID are not terribly ill. While there is the very scary multi system inflammatory syndrome, it is incredibly rare. Vaccinated people are mostly safe from getting severe illness or dying from Covid.

 Keep in mind that prior to covid, we frequently made the choices to travel during flu season. The risk to young kids is similar. In some instances influenza is actually harder on the little ones. 

 No person’s situation is exactly the same as another's. If you opt to be more cautious and want to keep your mask on, there is no need to apologize or defend yourself. 

 As you look at the risk benefit here are essential questions that will make a difference in the answers. Are eligible people in your family fully vaccinated? 

 Are there family members who are at high risk? 

 How are the numbers in your area? 

My advice to someone in the Bay Area would differ from that to someone in Brazil or India. Find a trusted resource where you can keep tabs. Everything could change if a new variant comes along or numbers spike up again. 

 To close, I love gathering pearls of wisdom from sources that I trust. Emily Oster just did an article about this same issue. For data lovers, she is fabulous, but one thing she said that really resonated with me was that people ask “should I be worried?” She suggests that that is the wrong question. Instead people should ask if there is an action that they can or should take that is different from what they are doing. Once you figure out what feels like the best path for your family, march on down it, knowing that you made the best choice at the time. 

Choosing to be worried is a choice that will only leave you feeling helpless. I know I know, easier said than done. https://emilyoster.substack.com/p/family-planning-unmasked-offices My mom’s favorite piece of wisdom is always worth repeating. “It is what it is, do the best you can.” Gather the data, and don’t get frustrated if the data changes as new information surfaces. Make the choices that feel best for you.