To help children fight it better, KDMC plans ‘school isolation’

KALYAN: With health experts anticipating that the third wave of the pandemic may affect a lot of children, the Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation (KDMC) has come up with a unique initiative to make Covid-positive kids less anxious and emotionally stronger to fight the virus by isolating them at a centre in their schools instead of regular quarantine centres.
Under its “My Student My Responsibility” initiative, the KDMC has decided to create isolation wards and Covid care centres at civic and private schools. If students test positive, the civic body will admit the patients in their schools with the consent of their parents. Given that children are more accustomed to the school environment and share a special bond with it, they are likely to be more comfortable recovering there rather than at a regular quarantine centre.
KDMC commissioner Dr Vijay Suryawanshi, who is the brain behind this concept, said that students have special relationship with their schools, and if they get treated at their schools they are likely to be in a better frame of mind and may recover quickly.
To implement the same, Dr Suryawanshi has asked health officers to prepare a list of schools and get their details, like name of principals, their numbers and the number of students in each school. This will help understand the number of isolation and Covid care centres that need to be set up.
A civic official said that if children in the age group of 8 to 12 years are found to have mild symptoms of Covid-19, they will be advised admission in the isolation ward/or covid care centre of their school. If required, and if there is facility allows, parents of such children can also be accomodated.
The KDMC has also planned entertainment facilities for Covid-positive children in these centres. Beside, KDMC chief will also provide guidance to headmasters of all primary schools for safe quarantining.