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EDITORIAL: Protecting kids from excessive COVID rules

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It’s important that we do all we can to protect our fellow Canadians from having a serious outcome from COVID-19. Thankfully, the situation has been improving in recent weeks as the virus recedes and more high-risk people get vaccinated.

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But we also need to do all we can to protect ourselves from those excessive COVID rules that don’t do a whole lot of good and, in some cases, actually harm us and our communities. This applies especially so when it comes to children.

There are a variety of guidelines recommended in provinces across the country when it comes to quarantining children who either have COVID-19 or have simply been told to stay home because someone in their class or childcare group later tested positive for the virus.

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Parents have every right to think through these policies and speak out and make some noise if they don’t support them.

For example, Peel Region in Ontario recently apologized for guidelines sent to parents that said children — even small ones — need to be isolated in a room by themselves. It’s a ridiculous idea and whoever wrote it up should give their head a shake.

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It’s cruel and inhumane and would not be tolerated in any other situation.

Keep in mind, the rule wasn’t even concerning a kid who had COVID-19. It was just for kids who may have been exposed to the virus.

We know that COVID-19 is in fact very mild in children. That’s not us talking. That’s leading paediatricians across the country. Far fewer kids have been hospitalized with COVID than are regularly hospitalized with influenza.

Also, contact tracing all across North America has revealed there’s very little transmission of the virus happening in the classroom.

What’s the point then of putting kids through strict and lengthy quarantine protocols? Parents need to ask these questions. They need to speak up and become advocates for their kids.

Public health officials are still public servants. They work for us. We have a right to tell them when their policies don’t make sense.

We absolutely have the right to speak up for the best interests of our children.

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