Sarah Downey hosts '5 Questions' with Dr. Janine McCready about supporting schools during the COVID-19 pandemic and how to safely celebrate over the holidays

Sarah Downey, president and CEO of Michael Garron Hospital (MGH), asks Dr. Janine McCready infectious diseases physician, Michael Garron Hospital five questions about supporting schools during the COVID-19 pandemic and staying safe over the holidays.

You have questions and Michael Garron Hospital (MGH) has answers.

In this community edition of “5 Questions with President and CEO Sarah Downey” video series, Sarah interviews, Dr. Janine McCready, infectious diseases physician, MGH, about how the hospital is supporting East Toronto schools during the COVID-19 pandemic and how to safely celebrate over the holidays.

Watch the video to find out the answers to the following 5 questions:

1. What is MGH doing to help schools in the community? Why is MGH in schools testing children? (1:06)

Key Points: Access to schools is vital for the education of all kids; and certainly for children in communities that may be at a higher risk of contracting COVID-19. Recognizing this, MGH has implemented a robust community COVID-19 testing strategy to support schools in an effort to keep them safe, open, and to prevent transmission in schools and back into the community.

In August 2020, MGH partnered with East Toronto Family Practice Network (EasT-FPN) to reach out to local East Toronto schools and host weekly forums with principals and teachers. The goal of these forums was to provide basic information about COVID-19 and provide an opportunity for school administrators to ask questions.

Given the rise in COVID-19 cases in priority neighbourhoods in East Toronto, MGH partnered with the Ministry of Education, Toronto Public Health and the Toronto District School Board to participate in a pilot project to conduct on-site asymptomatic testing for select schools, starting with Thorncliffe Park Public School. In addition, MGH has supported East Toronto schools with organizing testing of individual student cases and providing testing support for classroom exposures.

With the support of community partners, MGH has provided case management for those who test positive in high priority neighbourhoods including:

• Providing counsel about positive COVID-19 test results
• Encouraging entire households, who have a family member who has tested positive for COVID-19,  to get tested
• Providing information about community supports available for those who test positive (i.e. grocery services, navigating the completion of federal forms, etc.)

2. What does MGH know about the transmission of COVID-19 from children to families? Does MGH think it is schools or the community leading transmission? (7:10)

Key points: Data is still evolving but it appears that transmission is occurring both in schools and in the community. That said, luckily at this point we haven’t seen any large scale outbreaks within schools in East Toronto. MGH is working with SickKids to drill down on the sequencing of the viruses within the children that test positive to help understand the spread.

On December 4, 2020 the screening policy at schools changed. MGH hopes the changes made to screening will help to prevent COVID-19 introductions into schools.

In partnership with school Boards and administrators, MGH is also striving to optimize infection prevention and control practices within East Toronto schools, i.e. masks that appropriately fit the kids and maintaining physical distancing, in an effort to stop the spread of COVID-19.

3. Are children typically more asymptomatic? And if so, why? (10:31)

Key Points: Studies have shown that 36% of children that tested positive for COVID-19 did not have symptoms; this is compared to 17% in adults. What this means is that it is harder to identify COVID-19 in children unless they have had a known exposure or a family member with symptoms.

If one person in a household has symptoms and tests positive for COVID-19, everyone should get tested.

4. What advice do you have for post-secondary students who may be returning home to their families for the holidays? (11:46)

Key Points: It is important to balance the desire to spend time with family, with increasing the risk to your household.

Ideally, while a student is still at school, if they can minimize exposure to others before they come home, that would help to some degree. In addition, depending on how long they are coming home for, if they can come home early but isolate in a room or basement separate from the family that would also provide some level of protection.

It is also important to do a risk assessment. If everyone in the family is young and healthy, partnered with isolation and testing if someone has symptoms, then the risk is relatively low. If you have someone older in your household or someone with multiple medical conditions, that you have close contact with, then it will be a more high-risk scenario.

To reduce risk and keep your family safe everyone should monitor themselves and if they have any symptoms or a known exposure, go and get tested.

5. If I get a COVID-19 test, is it safe for me to see my family? (14:01)

Key Points: Nothing with COVID-19 is simple. The biggest issue is that the test is just a snapshot in time. If you get tested today and it’s negative, you could still develop COVID-19 tomorrow.

Even if you don’t have symptoms you could still expose your family to the virus. People with COVID-19 are the most infectious two days before developing symptoms, the day they develop symptoms, and two days after.