Recently, our infant daughter had a fever. In the time of COVID-19, a baby’s fever is no longer “just” a baby’s fever. A child with a fever these days requires two options, per the CDC guidelines: The entire family must quarantine for a total of 24 days to pass through the contagion period or the entire family must quarantine until two negative COVID test results for the symptomatic child are received.
While we were pleasantly surprised that both our tests came back on the fifth day after the samples were taken despite the warnings that it would likely take seven to nine days each to come back, we were still placed in a situation where our jobs were put on a complete hold for a week.
I can’t help but wonder how many times we will endure this situation over the next year. Rapid result testing would make a world of difference for parents of young children who rely on work outside the home.
Laura WengerDurango
