Safe Practices for Preventing COVID-19 Among School-Aged Children

Communicable diseases and infections are common health problems among children. Among the most impactful communicable diseases present today is COVID-19, a disease caused by a virus named SARS-CoV-2, which has forced many school closures due to rapid transmission. Despite children not being the main driving factor of the spread of the disease, severe complications underlying COVID-19 incidence have resulted in increased hospitalization among school-age children.The initial global response to the spread of COVID-19 included the closure of school systems; however as the disease continues to be effectively managed, communities are starting to re-open schools partially or entirely nationwide. Although pharmaceutical measures are highly effective, this thesis will explore multiple non-pharmaceutical prevention strategies aimed to further reduce the risk of COVID-19 with assessing the impact of health education in school-aged children. This paper will examine the many facets of this topic, separated into three subtopics: The Impact of COVID-19 on School-Aged Children, The COVID-19 Preventative Intervention Within Schools, and The Behavioral Impact in Educating School-Aged Children About Effective Practices. The main topic and three subtopics are discussed at length through a review of this literature and the paper’s proposal