Protect children from COVID-19

Children wear surgical masks as protection against the coronavirus as Hong Kong marked the Lunar New Year on Jan. 27, 2020. (Image: © ANTHONY WALLACE/AFP via Getty Images)

The most dearest thing to us is our children. We spent all our life protecting our children from dangers around them, providing them everything they wish for, giving them the best childhood experience they could ever have and providing them with every kind of basic necessity they need to live a healthy and beautiful life. We love our children very much and that is the reason we must be very careful with our children while dealing with the current corona virus pandemic that has struck the whole world. As we all know that till this very day we still have not found a cure or vaccine for the corona virus that is why we should be extra careful and cautious.

The perception on internet about the corona virus states that the most vulnerable members of our society that are more likely to get corona virus are the old people or the senior citizens above the age of sixty and not the young people but it is not true. The young people are as vulnerable and exposed to corona virus as the old people are. And especially our children are the ones we want to protect from this deadly disease.

According to associate Hospital Epidemiologist at the Johns Hopkins Hospital, Aaron Michael Milstone, “Children are exposed to COVID-19 when the virus contacts their eyes, nose, mouth or lungs. This usually occurs when a nearby infected person coughs or sneezes, which releases respiratory droplets into the air and onto the child’s face or nearby surfaces such as tables, food or hands.”

A very big reason why children are more exposed and vulnerable to corona is that they are more likely to touch an unclean surface and touch their eyes, mouth and face, especially toddlers are very dangerous in this case because they put everything in their mouth such as toys on the floor. The parents should make sure all the toys are clean with dettol or sanitizer before giving them to the children to play with. They should also frequently clean the floor with dettol or acid. He gives other precautions that might protect your children from the virus;

• Avoid crowds. Keep kids away from crowded areas when possible. Stay away from sick people. 
• Keep children at least 6 feet away from anyone who is sick with a cough or fever, including family members.

Other important precautions the parents should adopt in order to protect their children is that they should frequently wash their hands and faces with soap for at least twenty seconds especially before eating something, and if soup is not available then they should use sanitizer. They should also wash their hands and face after coughing, sneezing and blowing their nose. And if children refuse to wash their hands, it is the responsibility of the parents to make them wash either by making them understand its importance or neither by scolding them because at the end of the day it is the live of the children that are in constant threat from corona.

In the end keeping in mind that the children with medical condition are the most vulnerable ones. Children with asthma or any other respiratory disease are the ones most likely of having the most severe symptoms of Covid-19. The parents should observe them and if they even develop the slightest of symptoms they should waste no time and take them to the doctor for checkup. Children with diabetes should try to manage and balance their sugar level because poorly controlled diabetes weak the immune system which will make their life very risky of getting the corona virus. May God keep us safe and sound.

    

 Author: Muhammad Asim Khan

A Mass Communication student of National University of        Modern    Languages Islamabad who often writes on international relations   and particular interest in Af-Pak affairs.