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I have a question regarding Covid precautions in a multi-generational household. My household consists of myself and my husband (both 42), my 2 daughters (9 & 12), and since Dec 2020 my elderly mom and dad (79 & 88 respectively). He is very frail and has multiple medical issues. My mom is his caregiver. In March 2021 my mom was diagnosed with stage 3 colon cancer. In fall 2021 my girls went back to in-person school, but with mask mandates and outdoor lunch in effect, as well as comprehensive tracking/notification of cases at school. To protect my parents, for the entire school year any time outdoor lunch was not available I picked up my youngest from school and ate lunch with her in the car. While the kids, myself, and my husband all contracted Omicron by June 2022, due to early detection and strict isolation my parents remain uninfected. Now they are back to school again, but without mask mandates and no information about cases at school. My mother has finished her chemo and is doing very well, but my father continues to be very frail. As a family, we always wear masks in public, we don't eat indoors in public, and we are all vaccinated and boosted. However, I'm not sure I can manage another full year of picking up my daughter for lunch whenever there are staffing shortages or the weather is bad. However, I can't reconcile letting her eat indoors with the decreased precautions at school in general and her grandfather's continued fragile health. What would you recommend in these circumstances?
You are not alone. Many people have expressed their frustration that Covid continues to be a problem for their family situation (because of frail or immunocompromised persons in their direct family circle). You are correct in being concerned that the school situation for your young children puts them at risk for getting the infection and bringing it home to your parents, who are at high-risk of having a serious or deleterious outcome with a Covid infection. Vaccination has improved the situation but not eliminated the need for people to continue to mask when out in public and for indoor places to improve ventilation and air quality. The lunchtime is not your only concern, as a failure to mask presents an increased risk for your children to become exposed to a respiratory pathogen, which could be Covid, influenza, or any number of other respiratory viruses. Sorry that I do not have an easy answer for you. I think that you will need to have a frank conversation with your children’s schools leadership to communicate your concerns and for the planning of possible solutions to the situation.
