By Alex McCuaig

Reducing strains on parents

Province moving to reduce testing times for children

Sep 18, 2020 | 4:47 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB – It’s an increasingly tough situation parents find themselves in as they try to balance their own work commitments and their children’s education.

In better times, a few days off a year for personal sickness or to take care of an ill child was the norm.

Now it can be a few weeks, adding additional strain to an already stressful situation.

Reducing time for non-COVID-19 cases to be resolved is something Dr. Deena Hinshaw says the health system is trying to address.

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“We’re trying to make it as quick and easy as possible for parents to get their child tested quickly,” said Hinshaw on Friday. “So, it may have been a bit of a runny nose that lasted a couple of days and they have a negative test coming back, then that child can go back to school.”

Hinshaw also addressed the issue of pre-existing health conditions in children and the expectations for them.

“We recognize that some children have allergies or other conditions where they may have ongoing symptoms that may be similar to COVID-19 but are about the same as they always experience,” said Hinshaw. “So as long as that child has had one negative test – unless their symptoms change – again, the requirement is that they be monitored for that change in symptoms.”

But for some parents, navigating a minefield of in-person education is a proposition best left alone for now.

Chelsey Bowlby who runs a landscaping business with her husband and has a teenager and elementary-aged child.

“We decided as small business owners, it would be best to go with homeschooling just in case the children ended up being flagged and had to be quarantined,” she said. “We had no one to really compensate our income for that time. So, best to just keep them home, keep them not sick.”

Hinshaw announced on Thursday that asymptomatic testing would cease to better allow the focus to be put on individuals showing symptoms and frontline workers such as educators.