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A STUDENT AT a Dublin school is the first confirmed case of the Covid-19 virus and his school has been closed for the next two weeks as a precaution.
With news and public discussion dominated by the coronavirus, children are now starting to talk about it in school with their friends and teachers and at home with their parents.
Last Saturday, it emerged that a student at Scoil Chaitríona in Glasnevin, Dublin 9 has the virus. The Department of Education has issued general advice for schools, including posters to encourage children to throw away their used tissues and wash their hands.
Last night, a second case of the virus was confirmed. The HSE said a woman in the east of the country had been diagnosed with Covid-19. However, it was stressed that there is no link between her illness and the case in the school.
Child and adolescent psychotherapist Colman Noctor said stories like this tend to filter down to children quickly with such a high level of public discourse on the issue.
“Ordinarily we want to protect the innocence of children, so we don’t tell them about certain news stories but when it comes to the hand washing advice with this, children are normally villains for contagion,” he said.
“So we feel the need to tell them about hand washing without alarming them. We have to try to inform them without overwhelming them or overburdening them.
Each child will have different temperaments, for those prone towards anxiety, less is more in terms of information. They may need a little bit of reassurance. So explain what the coronavirus is, it’s a thing that spreads when you don’t wash your hands, explain in the majority of cases that when you’re fit and well it’s not going to kill you, you’ll be sick as if you have the flu for two weeks and then you’re fine after that.
He said parents should try to be “very measured, calm but informative to try to avoid the hysteria”.
Noctor said it is better for children to hear it from their parents than from another child at school who may be alarmist about the topic.
Though he said it won’t be possible to avoid children hearing news coverage about the virus, parents should be conscious of their own neuroses, particularly when it comes to discussions about stocking up on supplies of food or face masks.
“We’re aware of why we’re building a bunker under the house for a shortage of supplies, that’s your prerogative but it’s not necessary to make your children overly aware of it.
Childhood is an introduction to reality so when you introduce reality to a child it’s about pacing it at a level they can manage.
Anxiety
Play therapist Myriam Clancy from Cork said children have started to speak about the coronavirus in sessions.
“With children, it helps to give them very concrete information, tell them that it’s something people are talking about which seems scary but generally it’s not children who are getting it, it affects very old people or those who are already very sick,” she said.
If they’re still distressed after that information, it’s about allowing them to feel that way. And having a conversation where you tell them you’ve noticed they’re really worried even though it’s not likely to affect a young person and you can see they still feel it’s scary.
“We tend to dismiss children when we’re talking about these things but we should be allowing them to express it. No matter how much we reassure children, they might still be anxious about things.”
Clancy said it may also help children if they are told of ways of protecting themselves, so they can feel more in control of the situation.
“So you can tell them that scientists have said the best way to prevent any illnesses is to wash your hands and maybe you could make up a song together about washing hands,” she suggested.
“If you’ve had these discussions with the child and you find they’re becoming almost obsessive with the anxiety around this, there could be something deeper there.
“Allow them to express the anxiety, don’t shut it down, but if it continues to be a big issue you should speak to your GP.”
If you’re concerned or curious about something in relation to Covid-19, send your question to answers@thejournal.ie and we’ll do our best to find out for you.
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However, if they ask about climate change, tell them the world is on fire and we have 11 years until the end of all life on Earth.
Hot water is necessary to maintain clean hands yet my kids primary school has only freezing cold water in the bathroom. Once this goes around the schools it’s going to spread like wildfire. I’m interested to know if we are the exception.
@Claire Molloy: Cold water is fine to use, hot water is contraindicated, warm water is preferred, using soap along with the water is the most important factor. You are more likely to wash for a longer time if the water is a comfortable temperature though.
@Claire Molloy: cold water will work. The hand washing doesn’t kill the virus, it just removes the dirt from your hands and hopefully any traces of the virus with it.
Drying the hands with a clean or single use (paper) towel, is probably more important than the temperature of the water.
@Claire Molloy: The good news is the virus isn’t an issue for kids with very mild symptoms or many with no symptoms at all . There has been no deaths in under 9s anywhere in the world and only 2 in the 9 to 19 group and both of them had sever underlying conditions
@Claire Molloy: So if little Oisin or Niamh supposedly get scalded while washing their hands then the school managment will get sued by the parents. Maybr they should have hand sanitiser available instead or let the parents supply it , but sure their little darlings might end up poisoning themselves with that product.
Oh FFS – this is getting beyond a joke at this stage. It’s a Flu – perhaps a more severe one than the normal flu but that’s all it is. The whole damn world is in a mad panic over something that has killed fewer people in months than die on an average day on the roads in the US.
Cop on.
@Dara O’Brien: your point is undermined a little by the simple fact that it isn’t actually a flu.
@Dara O’Brien: You’re not very bright, are you?
@Paraic: Coming from a tinfoil hat wearing guy who posts non-peer reviewed papers funded by the Chinese natural medicine council and presents them as fact – I’ll take that as a compliment.
@Dara O’Brien: I’ll trust the experts thank you
@Lorraine Mac Rory: You’re right, it’s not technically a flu – whilst the symptoms can be more severe, it doesn’t transmit as efficiently:
As per the WHO:
“To summarize, COVID-19 spreads less efficiently than flu, transmission does not appear to be driven by people who are not sick, it causes more severe illness than flu, there are not yet any vaccines or therapeutics, and it can be contained“
@Dara O’Brien: and more people die of natural causes than its killed so far too. This thing mutated to its present form from something slightly less sinister. If left unchecked to rampage through the population it could mutate again into something much worse. Think it’s you that needs a bit of cop on.
@Dara O’Brien: 6% of all cases so far that have been monitored from start to finish have ended in death. That’s an irrefutible fact. You have no counterargument to this point other than saying I’m wearing a tinfoil hat. If that’s how you prove your false point, it shows me that you’re not very bright. It’s easy to say things like “it’s just a flu” but have absolutely nothing to back that up. It’s SARS and it’s several orders of magnitude worse. You’re false “opinion” doesn’t change the facts. Calling me a conspiracy theorist doesn’t change the facts. You’re just broadcasting your own ignorance.
@Sea Graham: As did SARS, as did MERS as did Swine Flu, as did Bird Flu and we’re still here.
I’m not saying that people shouldn’t take common sense precautions to avoid it – just like we do with the seasonal flu. What I’m saying is that the global panic is totally and utterly overdone – articles about how to talk to your children about it is verging on the ridiculous.
Panic is leading to hoarding of protective medical equipment is leading to a shortage of supplies for medical staff – all this panicky hysteria is causing potentially more serious issues.
@Dara O’Brien: BTW do you know what The Natural Sciences are in “National “Natural Science Foundation of China” ? Your interpretation of the phrase as “Natural Medicine” again shows me that you are not very bright.
@Paraic: Your talking out of your anus again I’m afraid. Given the fact that 80% of all cases exhibit mild symptoms, latest studies from the London School of medicine and another similar in the US state it’s reasonable to assume that a minimum of 40% of cases are never reported or detected which pushes the real mortality rate to less than 0.5% – below that of the seasonal Flu.
https://www.cato.org/blog/misleading-arithmetic-covid-19-death-rates
@Paraic: I think it is natural people and world leaders are concerned as none of us have ever seen a virus operate like this or “snake it’s way throughout the world”. We are in unchartered waters and many people (highest in Europe – I think) have respiratory problems. So people are worried for the people they love and themselves. If Ireland has to shut down like Italy – it word devastate lives and damage our economy. So, I think it’s quite normal a reaction to panic, worry and feel afraid. This is very unpredictable. So, telling anyone who is frightened to calm down is possibly the least effective thing. In my own experience, reassurance works better.
@Dara O’Brien: mic drop*
@Dara O’Brien: “Given that 80% of cases are mild cases” obviously means that 20% are not. 6% of all monitored cases still went on to die. No amount of deflecting will change this fact. It’s not complex “misleading arithmetic”. Just look at the official figures, it’s right there under “closed cases”. That’s the reality. https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/
@Paraic: I should have listened to my Dad when he told me;
“Never argue with an idiot, they just drag you down to their level and beat you with experience”
@Dara O’Brien: He was talking about you, but you never got the hint.
@Dara O’Brien: … Because you’re not very bright.
@Dara O’Brien: hmmm tell that to the 3000 families who have just lost a loved one – maybe you find the wall the wall coverage irritating then get off social media and and go do something else constructive with your time – maybe you are the one that needs the cop on FFS.
@Paraic: It is very ironic you telling people they are “not very bright”.
3,204 deaths our of a total number of reported cases of 93,567 is 3.42%. Not 6%.
You are becoming a joke at this stage
@Dara O’Brien:
Percentages can be difficult to comprehend for some people.
The Lancet estimates the number of flu deaths at between 291,000 to 646,000 per year. (The flu seasoning generally 5 months)
This Virus, while technically not an influenza (which doesn’t really make a blind bit of difference to anyone) has caused the deaths of 3,200 people worldwide in a 3 month period.
Now call me old fashioned, but in my “opinion” 3,200 is a lot less that 291,000, and a lot lot less than 646,000.
I think your point that this is less deadly than flu is well founded in actual evidence
@Feardorcha Ó Maolomhnaigh: I see your 2% claim has now risen to 3.42% like I told you it would. Come back next month and it will rise again because your dodgy method results in a value that it’s constantly moving. It will keep going up until it’s 6% anyway. It seems that you are still making massive assumptions about cases that are only a couple of weeks old or less and your calculation assumes that they all survive. That’s really faulty logic. The statisticians at worldometer know what they’re doing. It’s clear to see that of the 54,270 closed cases, 6% (3,204) are dead. That’s an irrefutible fact. If you think you know better then I’d encourage you to take a look at the fantastic offers available from Princess Cruises at the moment. It could be the holiday of a lifetime.
@Paraic:
Do you know the “statisticians at worldometer”? Also they are making no such claim. You are.
To estimate a fatality rate based on the number of death divided by the total number of resolved cases is completely incorrect while 42% of cases are unresolved. Hence nobody uses this as a metric.
If you look at the graphs you will see the the rate of recovery is significantly higher than the rate of new cases which implies that the case fatality rate will be much closer to 3.4% that 6%
You don’t understand the meaning of the figures you are quoting. You are basically now the journal.ie equivalent of Bart Simpson’s “look at me!, Look at me! Look at me!”
You can’t even mute me properly.
The reassuring thing is the virus isn’t an issue for kids with very mild symptoms or many with no symptoms at all . There has been no deaths in under 9s anywhere in the world and only 2 in the 9 to 19 group and both of them had sever underlying conditions .Its older guys like me that need to worry, but Im a fit 72 year old still working 3 days a week and walking 5 miles a day so I hope Im robust enough to be ok
Somebody is really paid to tell us ‘how talk to my kids’? Really ??
Hey kids, it’s a virus like the flu. If you get it you’ll die!
Open up with “were all gonna die!!!”
Then when you tell them that it’s probably only 0.2% of already sick or older people that might possibly die, who could also die from the flu or any other virus too if infected, and it’s not an actual zombie apocalypse, it will come as a relief to them..
@David Van-Standen: Grandparents often step up to hold the fort when parents are sick. You’re forgetting that a lot of background support goes on.
have your say