Children, Parents and Covid-19 from Dr. Molly O’Dell

October 14, 2020 Reader Submission

From Dr. Molly O’Dell Acting Director of Public Health for RCAHD

With our schools back in session, shorter days and traditional fall events planned, I know that
many people are already considering how to stay safe while supporting our children and loved
ones. There are a few trends we are watching carefully, a few unknowns we are concerned
about and some behavior practices we’d like to see improved.
Throughout the Roanoke City and Alleghany Health Districts, our data reveals that as of
October 8th, we have had over 3,400 local cases of COVID-19 since March. We have lost 56 of
our residents, and hundreds have been hospitalized. At the time of writing this article, we are
working on 26 outbreaks, which is the most at any one time during this pandemic that our health
district has seen. We are not flattening the curve. The virus continues to seek opportunities to
spread and attack our bodies. Any gathering of people provides an opportunity for this disease
to spread.
Our epidemiology team has been analyzing the demographics of our local cases. In the first two
months of positive cases, our average age ranged from 50.03 to 64.31. That trend has steadily
come down and has been as low as 34.28 since August. Looking at our percent of cases by age
decile, we note that 20-29 is our highest decile, representing over 20% of our cases. Ages 0-9
accounts for 5.49% of our cases and ages 10-19 accounts for about 11.23% of our total cases.
It is clear that while our older adults are at highest risk for complications from COVID, all ages,
including our children, are vulnerable to the spread of COVID-19.
To protect our children and our wider community, our team has been in contact with local school
systems to support their reopening efforts. We have provided guidance, technical support, and
information, as well as step in when cases or outbreaks occur. Our schools have done a
tremendous job to empower our students to be back in the classroom and as safe and healthy
as possible. Of course, our standard health precautions are key: social distancing, cloth face
coverings, and reducing the number of students on site and hand washing. However, while they
can prevent spread, it is almost impossible to keep the disease from entering schools 100%.
When we have a positive student, teacher, or staff, our team works with the school to provide
appropriate guidance about isolation and quarantine, as well as information about when to close
a classroom and shift to virtual education.
Many of our schools have reported that students are doing a great job wearing their cloth face
coverings. However, we are still receiving a steady stream of feedback from the community
about businesses, organizations, and locations where compliance with the COVID-19 guidance
is lacking. This can create a confusing message for our children, and even ourselves. I ask that
you consider your sphere of influence with community members and model good COVID-safety
precautions such as wearing a cloth face covering and social distancing. When we wear our
face coverings, we take a small but active role in ensuring that our businesses can stay open, your children remain in schools and we all remain healthy.