Kids and COVID-19: Illness is 'kind of like a cold' but pandemic is impacting mental health

Pediatrician Dr. Ayisha Kurji says that for most kids, COVID-19 is "kind of like a cold" but she says that doesn't mean parents should let their guards down.

Some children do end up hospitalized and the province recorded its first death of someone under the age of 19 last week.

There has also been an uptick in the number of schools in Regina reporting cases in recent days. Between Thursday and Sunday this week, 17 schools in Regina reported cases of COVID-19. In the same time period, four cases were reported in Saskatoon. 

Kurji said the increase in cases at schools could be due to the COVID-19 variant that's been reported in the city.

She said since kids are often asymptomatic, and therefore less likely to be tested, that means these cases in Regina may be cropping up because the children are coming down with symptoms.

"It means it's in the community," she said. "That's why it's really important to look not just at the numbers of what we're getting because that's so influenced by how many tests we do, whether kids or grownups, but looking at that percent positivity. … Our percent positivity is still high and it still means to me that we have to be worried."

She said it's still important to continue to follow the public health measures, even though it's difficult.

Mental health 'a daily conversation'

Parents should also be watching for signs of problems with mental health in their children, Kurji said, noting that the pandemic is taking a toll on kids.

"[Mental health] is, I would say, a daily conversation I have with patients in some way shape or form," she said.

In her ideal world, Kurji said she'd like to see that every person had access to a counsellor but that's not possible right now.

Instead, she talks to parents about what to watch for and how to protect a child's mental health.

"Are you engaged with your kids?" she said. "Are they coming out of their rooms at all? Are you having meals together? Are you checking in? Have those conversations daily, find ways to get outside, have a routine, make sure you spend time together as a family."

She said parents need to be creative about how to keep their children active. She recommends spending time outside and giving younger kids things they can do with their hands like crafts.

For older kids and even adults, she recommended quiet, reflective activities like colouring or having tea or hot chocolate, or other "things that ground you a little bit."

Vaccine may be available to kids this fall

Kurji has younger children herself and she said she talks to them about the pandemic, including updates about vaccine developments.

"They hate needles so they don't want it but at the same time they want it," she said.

Currently, none of the vaccines are approved for children but Kurji said studies are underway.

Pfizer has just finished enrollment for their study for 12- to 15-year-olds, AstraZeneca is studying six-year-olds and up and Johnson and Johnson is starting with 12-year-old and then working its way down to babies.

Despite these developments, she said it's still unclear about when the vaccine will be available to children.

"I've heard that maybe by the fall there might be something we can use for kids which would be fantastic going into the new school year."

She said while it would be exciting to see rapid testing in schools but said the protocols need to be clear and asked if, for example, someone got a rapid test, would they need to get another test to confirm the results?

"It's really important that when we deploy them we know exactly what the protocols are and that they're consistent everywhere."

'We just have to keep on going'

With more and more people being vaccinated, questions are arising about what activities are allowed once someone is fully vaccinated.

Kurji said it's still important to keep contacts low and do everything public health recommends.

The protection from the vaccine doesn't start to take effect until about two weeks after it's received and in the case of a two-dose vaccine, one is only considered fully vaccinated two weeks after the second dose.

"You need to make sure you've taken that into consideration," Kurji said. "Even if you're vaccinated, when you're out in public, you should still distance, you should still wear your mask, you still need to wash your hands, right. I think those are here for a while, to stay. ...

"As hard as it is, and I get that it's getting so hard to keep doing this, I think we just have to keep on going."

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