5/13/20

Tobey is helping me to remind everyone that now is a great time to have your child start practicing wearing a face mask.  

There is a very real possibility that when we return to school every student and staff member will be required to wear a mask throughout the day.  

The only way to prepare your child for this new reality is to practice!  

Remember: The purpose of wearing a cloth face covering is to protect those around you in case you have the virus and don't know it.

Explain to your child that they are wearing a mask to protect others and other people are wearing masks to protect them!

Prevent Remote Learning Aches and Pains

COVID-19 Parenting: Tips from WHO and CDC

Cloth Face Coverings

The CDC recommends wearing cloth face coverings in public settings where other social distancing measures are difficult to maintain (e.g., grocery stores and pharmacies).

You can visit the CDC.gov website to learn more about the reasons cloth face masks are recommended and to learn how to make your own at home.

Some important points to remember:

• Cloth face masks are recommended, but surgical masks or N-95 respirators are NOT recommended for the general public.  These are considered critical supplies and need to be reserved for healthcare workers and other professionals. 
• Wearing a cloth face mask does NOT protect YOU from contracting COVID-19!
• Research shows that many people have contracted the coronavirus but didn't show any symptoms, this means that it's possible for you to spread the virus without even knowing!  The purpose of using a cloth face mask is to help protect OTHERS from possibly contracting the virus from you.

• Because cloth face masks are not 100% effective at decreasing the spread of germs between people it's still VERY important to practice social distancing, as well.
• You may be thinking, if cloth masks aren't protecting me, then maybe I should be wearing a surgical mask??
• Surgical masks are used for a couple of reasons.  First, medical professionals use them to protect their patients from their own germs.  Second, surgical masks are fluid resistant, so they protect the wearer from splashes or sprays of bodily fluids (like what could occur during surgical or other medical procedures).  They may provide the wearer some very limited protection from airborne viruses.
• Most importantly, stay home if you can.  If you must leave the house, wear a cloth face mask, practice social distancing and wash your hands often.  Try not to touch your cloth face mask, as this quickly contaminates it with germs.

NH Stay at Home

April Coping Calendar

This Active Coping Calendar from Action for Happiness has daily actions for April 2020 to help us look after ourselves and each other as we face this global crisis together. 

The Pediatrician's Office and COVID-19

Many local pediatrician's offices are taking steps to ensure they are able to safely care for children during the coronavirus pandemic.  Here are recent updates from our local offices, if I missed any please let me know and I will look into it!

Children's Health Care

https://www.chcmass.com/about-us/community-news/

As of 3/30/20:

• It is still recommended to keep your well child visit!
• All offices will be closing at 5pm.
• To keep keep everyone healthy and safe, CHC will be doing the following:
• Separating sick and well visits by location and/or time.
• Sanitizing between patients, rooming patients immediately, and wearing masks for all visits
• Still holding sick call from 8-9am, but prefer for sick visits to be scheduled
• CHC asks that patients follow these guidelines:
• Only one adult per child and please limit siblings and other family members.
• If a parent has any symptoms associated with COVID-19, another caregiver should bring the child into the office.
• If a parent and/or child has been exposed to COVID-19, please call the office to schedule an appointment so we take appropriate precautions.
• All attempts should be made to keep any adult over the age of 60 from coming into the office

Core Pediatrics

https://www.corephysicians.org/core-news/For-the-most-up-to-date-information-on-the-Coronav

As of 3/30/20:

• Pediatric morning walk-in clinics have been suspended until further notice. Please call your physician's office to book your appointment.

• In order to provide timely and appropriate healthcare, and keep our population safe, we are moving to telephonic and virtual visits for upcoming appointments. Your doctor will determine if this type of visit is right for you, and the office will be contacting you to discuss the details.  
• If your appointment requires you to come to the office, we ask you refrain from bringing visitors. If the patient is pediatric, the one additional person must be 18 years or older and healthy. We will be screening everyone for COVID19 symptoms and asking to mask.  

• If you have fever or respiratory symptoms, please call us before your appointment.

• Primary Care Offices Consolidate -  As of 3/30/20, we have temporarily consolidated all primary care offices to Stratham (118 Portsmouth, Ave) and Epping (212 Calef Highway).

Riverside Pediatrics

https://www.riversidepedi.com/

As of 3/30/20:

Please note some immediate changes our office has put into place.

-No longer offering a Walk In hour in the morning.

-Please call ahead for any sick appointments or other concerns, as we are trying to limit the number of people in our waiting room or office.

-When coming in for an appointment, you may be asked to wear a mask. Expect that staff will often be wearing masks, as an additional precaution to keep you healthy.

-Telemedicine option- we are able to have telemedicine visit for many of your healthcare needs. These visits are now covered by all insurers.

-We have moved all Well Visits to the weekends and there will no longer be sick visits offered on the weekends after Saturday, 3/21/2020. We ask that only one parent/person accompany the child to their appointment, and that both the child and parent are healthy, with any signs of illness. This is for your protection, the health of our staff and ourselves.

-Sick Appointments will be offered in the office, Monday-Friday from 10:00am-4:00pm. Please call ahead, after 9:00am.

Newburyport Pediatrics

https://www.facebook.com/Newburyport-Pediatrics-154173927953026/

As of 3/30/20:

Office appears to be closed.

Dr. Merkrebs reports she is available by phone, telemedicine and email.

Call the office with questions: 978-462-7108

Pediatric Associates of Hampton and Portsmouth

https://www.pediatricassociatesnh.com/coronavirus/

As of 3/30/20:

• Both Hampton and Portsmouth Offices will close at 4pm daily.  The on-call physician remains available after 4pm for emergencies until the following morning.
• Well child visits will be from 8am-2pm
• Sick visits will be from 2pm-4pm by appointment.
• Also offering tele-visits
• Same-day sick appointments on weekends in our Portsmouth office from 9am-12pm by appointment only.
• We respectfully request that each patient be accompanied by only ONE symptom-free caregiver if possible. Please avoid bringing multiple family members, including siblings, to your child’s appointment.

COVID-19 Myths, Debunked

COVID-19 Myths, Debunked 

A comic by Whit Taylor and Allyson Shwed

https://thenib.com/covid-19-myths-debunked/

3/22/2020

An Animated Comic Explaining COVID-19

A cartoonist created this with help from a doctor to explain COVID-19.  From https://thespinoff.co.nz/covid-19/25-03-2020/the-side-eye-viruses-vs-everyone/

Resources for Parents

Good morning!

I am working on compiling a list of resources to help parents during this stressful time.  The lists can be accessed by clicking on the links on the right hand side of this page or the links below:

School Closure Resources

I'll be updating this page with tons of resources for families to use during our school closure.  Including:

• General resources
• Tips for physical activity breaks for your kids and entire family
• Wellness resources to help you and your family stay connected and to help counteract the anxiety-provoking messages heard on the news
• Resources specifically for parents who may need assistance supporting their family during this difficult time

COVID-19 Information

I'll be compiling factual information related to the COVID-19 pandemic to help our families better understand this situation.

As a reminder, please reach out via email or google hangouts if you have any questions or concerns!

-Mrs. Hayes