An Atlanta-area preschool's note to parents asking that they keep their children home if anyone in the household has traveled internationally indicates the rising level of concern about coronavirus.
The decision by Christ the King Preschool in Cumming also suggests the challenges that may lie ahead for working parents.
"Imagine if every private school took these measures,” said Laura Kelley, whose 5-year-old son has been at home with her since her return from Scotland last week.
Sara Donovan, the preschool director, said the new policy was intended to keep children safe. Any child who has either traveled outside the country or has had contact with such a traveler is under a 14-day "waiting period," she said.
"On the side of caution, we have implemented policies in accord with the recommendations of the CDC," she said.
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The Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is the lead agency charged with the nation's response to COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. The CDC has not advised that schools bar the attendance of children exposed to people who have traveled to low-risk destinations such as Scotland, which as of Thursday was at the same threat level as the United States.
"If local health officials report that there are cases of COVID-19 in the community, schools may need to take additional steps in response to prevent spread in the school," the federal agency was advising as of Thursday. "The first step for schools in this situation is to talk with local health officials."
Donovan responded once by text message to a telephone call seeking comment. She did not respond to a follow-up question sent by text asking whether she had consulted with health officials.
Other schools have made decisions showing their anxiety about the virus. In January, Forsyth County Schools asked that any child with a family member who had returned from China "wait for the 14-day incubation period" to expire before returning to school.
The Georgia Department of Public Health, which is working closely with the CDC, then sent a message to all school health workers in the state that said “it is important to understand the risk of disease transmission and not impose unnecessary restrictions on persons who do not present an immediate health risk.” In bold lettering, it added that students “do not need to be excluded from school” just because a family member traveled to China in the past two weeks.
More recently, Habersham County Schools in northeast Georgia started requiring any student or staffer who has traveled internationally to stay home for two weeks.
The decisions by both the Forsyth schools and the Cumming preschool were made before Monday, when Georgia's first cases of coronavirus were revealed by Gov. Brian Kemp.
A father who had traveled to Italy and his teenage son who had not were both isolating themselves at home. The boy attends a private home school cooperative in Cherokee County that has temporarily closed, along with a second similar school in the area that was concerned about contact. Students at those schools have siblings at the local public schools, but the Cherokee County School District, after consulting with health officials, had decided against closing schools as of Thursday.
Kelley, the mom of the Christ the King preschooler who has been stuck at home, said he couldn’t go outside for several days because of the rain and only gets a couple of hours of television time. He has spent the rest of his time playing with toys and Reddy, their red-haired dachshund-Chihuahua mix.
Well, nearly the rest of his time. Every two to three hours, he interrupts his mom, seeking attention. She has been working longer days to compensate.
The corporate financial analyst checked with her doctor and has no signs of illness. She counts herself lucky that she can work from home, but said other parents could get fired if they can't go to work. And what about the schooling he's missed?
"They need to think about the consequences of these decisions," she said.
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