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Q: Covid-19 or the common cold? How to tell if your child contracted coronavirus as school starts
Some shared symptoms of Covid-19 and the common cold include a sore throat, fatigue and a headache, according to Wen. Coughing is another common symptom of both viruses, although according to the Mayo Clinic, the Covid-19 cough tends to be drier.
If you suspect your child has Covid-19, the most important thing is to not send them to school, Wen cautioned, and get them tested. “I would encourage parents to have a high index of suspicion and to definitely not send your child to school if they are not feeling themselves and have any symptoms that could be Covid-19,” she said.
READS OF THE WEEK
Covid-19 cases are rising in countries praised for stopping outbreaks. Do they need to change their strategies?
A year and a half since the first Covid-19 cases were identified, many countries in Asia-Pacific feel right back where they started. While Britons hit the nightclubs after a long winter of coronavirus restrictions, millions of people in Australia and China are back in lockdown. Health systems in Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia are overwhelmed. And countries such as the Pacific island nation of Fiji, which last year had only reported a handful of cases, are now battling major outbreaks.
Unvaccinated dad records days of regret in hospital — and makes heartbreaking request for daughter’s wedding in case he dies
Between difficult breaths of supplemental oxygen, Travis Campbell is fighting to send a message about his battle with Covid-19 in a Virginia hospital: He regrets not getting vaccinated. And while he hopes he’s turned a corner, for a very scary stretch, he thought he needed to make arrangements in case he died.
The father of several children has been in a hospital in Bristol since late July, and has been recording a video diary of sorts from his room, documenting a startling roller coaster of declines and improvement. “I messed up big time, guys,” he said through an oxygen mask in one video posted to Facebook on Wednesday. “I didn’t get the vaccine … I made a mistake, I admit it.”
TOP TIP
Yes, children can be affected by Covid-19.
The myth that kids can’t get seriously sick from Covid-19 has been further debunked as more children get hospitalized during the Delta variant surge.
Since this time last year, more than 45,000 children have been hospitalized with Covid-19, according to the CDC. As of Saturday, an average of 203 child Covid-19 patients were admitted to US hospitals every day over the past week, CDC data shows. That’s a 21.4% increase from the previous week in the number of new children getting hospitalized every day with Covid-19.