One Parent Manages Quarantines And School Cancellations

Nikki Attkisson | Last Updated : October 11, 2021

During the current Covid-19 outbreak, Matt Volz’s unvaccinated 7-year-old kid began coughing and sneezing in late September, just as the facilities in their native state of Montana started to buckle under the strain. When his symptoms didn’t go away on their own, he brought him to get checked.

The cotton swab blocked his nostrils, and Thomas pushed out of the lap with an audible snort, almost tearing the 6-inch cotton swab from the physician assistant’s fingers.

One Parent Manages Quarantines And School Cancellations

Even though the sample came out crooked, it was still useable, and as she was putting it away, He offered an explanation to which he also knew what happened.

“Does it mean we’re in quarantine?” She smiled and nodded. She estimated that it would take approximately 72 hours to receive the findings.

One Parent Manages Quarantines And School Cancellations

The following day, Anna and Karen, all four years old, began coughing and sneezing in the same manner as their brother.

However, even though they were already under quarantine after being exposed to the classmate who had come back positive for Covid-19, the new isolation was imposed on them.

At the same time, they awaited the results of the tests. After two Covid-19 prevention measures and the shutdown of summer camps in August, they were prepared for the worst. In September, their family achieved a new milestone at their pandemic trip: the twins joined a quarantine inside a quarantine while concurrently rushing to their brother’s quarantine in the same facility.

For parents of children who are too young to be vaccinated, the announcement that Pfizer and BioNTech have determined their vaccine to be safe and efficacious for children aged 5 to 11 is a ray of hope at the end of what seems like an endless quarantine tunnel.

Recall those lockdowns that characterized the beginning of spring 2020 for everybody? Their parents still are living with them, in increments of up to ten days at a time. In the time when we are not in isolation, we are preparing for the next one.

His wife, Beagan, and he now cringe when they see a school address on their phone’s caller ID, which is a common occurrence. Is it possible that they may close again? Will their superiors be more understanding this time around? Is it possible for them to obtain part-time childcare at the last moment? What about bringing in outside assistance while we’re under quarantine? Do they have permission to do so?

Although their family is restricted, the record hospitalization and increase in Covid-19 fatalities put the difficulties of their confined but otherwise healthy family into context. Montana was one of the top five locations for new cases on the same day his son was tested, and the president sent National Guard soldiers to assist hospitals that were overflowing with Covid-19 patients on the same day. Among the 1,326 fresh Covid-19 cases recorded by the state were 118 children under the age of ten.

This particular pediatrician’s practice is a member of the St. Peter’s Health system that was adopting crisis standards of care to Restrict Medical Services at the time of the incident. We were just a few hundred feet away from the doctor’s office, where all eight critical care beds inside the main part of the hospital were occupied entirely, with six of them being occupied by Covid-19 patients. They were very exhausted, despite the fact that school had just begun three weeks before.


Nikki Attkisson

With over 15 years as a practicing journalist, Nikki Attkisson found herself at Powdersville Post now after working at several other publications. She is an award-winning journalist with an entrepreneurial spirit and worked as a journalist covering technology, innovation, environmental issues, politics, health etc. Nikki Attkisson has also worked on product development, content strategy, and editorial management for numerous media companies. She began her career at local news stations and worked as a reporter in national newspapers.

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