Dear All,
We have prepared these 20 messages on coronavirus for children to understand, learn and share. Would you have a look at the messages and send us your comments? We would of course be as responsive to changes in the science ongoing as we are with other health topics.
Your help with this would be greatly appreciated.
Best wishes
Clare
1. Coronavirus enters the body through the mouth, nose and eyes, or a break in the skin.
2. People with Coronavirus have a fever and may cough and sneeze. Many other illnesses do the same, but it's important to tell a health worker and avoid mixing with other people.
3. People who think they might have Coronavirus must stay at home, tell a health worker and follow their advice and when possible look up the advice of their government, online.
4. Most people with Coronavirus feel ill for a few days and then get better. Some people who have had it do not feel ill, but they can spread it.
5. If there is a chance a person has Coronavirus they can be told to ‘self-isolate' or go into quarantine. This means they must stay at home and not mix with others for up to 14 days, to make sure they do not spread the virus to others.
6. The people who become very unwell or who die from Coronavirus are mostly elderly people and people who are already ill.
7. Coronavirus passes from person to person through the air. It is extremely contagious, which means it is passed from person to person very easily.
8. Coronavirus can live on surfaces, so a person can catch the virus if they touch a surface with Coronavirus and then touch their eyes, nose or mouth.
9. It is essential to stay at least one meter away from people who are coughing or sneezing, or who think they may have Coronavirus.
10. Coronavirus is new, and at the moment (March 2020) there is no medicine to treat it or vaccine to prevent it.
11. If a person coughs or sneezes they must ‘catch it’ in their elbow or into a tissue which then must be thrown away, and then wash their hands properly.
12. The best way to prevent catching Coronavirus is to wash your hands properly: use water, a little soap, rub for 20 seconds, rinse and then air-dry.
13. Wash your hands properly at six critical times: 1. After coughing or sneezing. 2. After using the toilet. 3. After cleaning the baby or helping someone who is ill. 4. After handling animals or rubbish. 5. Before, during
and after you prepare food. 6. Before eating or giving food to babies.
14. Help the very young, the old and those who are ill to wash their hands properly.
15. To prevent Coronavirus do not touch the T-zone on your face (eyes, nose and mouth) because this is where germs enter the body. See the diagram on the top right of this page.
16. Prevent the spread of illnesses by disposing of tissues you have used, in a bin, immediately.
17. If a person has Coronavirus it is essential that they wear a mask when they are in a room with others. Masks need to be replaced if they become damp.
18. Health workers looking after people with severe Coronavirus illness wear special suits, masks and gloves, so they do not catch it.
19. Health workers are brave, kind people caring for people who are sick, helping to stop Coronavirus from spreading to others.
20. When a person has Coronavirus it is not their fault. Patients and those who have been in quarantine and their family and friends need kindness and support.
CHIFA profile: Clare Hanbury is director of Children for Health (www.childrenforhealth.org). She qualified as a teacher in the UK and then worked in schools in Kenya and Hong Kong. After an MA in Education in Developing Countries and for many years, Clare worked for The Child-to-Child Trust based at the University of London’s Institute of Education where, alongside Hugh Hawes and Professor David Morley she worked to help embed the Child-to-Child ideas of childrens participation in health – into government and non-government child health and education programmes in numerous countries. Clare has worked with these ideas alongside vulnerable groups of children such as refugees and street children. Since her MSc in International Maternal and Child Health, Clare has worked freelance and focuses on helping government and non-government programmes to design and deliver child-centered health and education programmes where children are active participants. Clare has worked in many countries in East and Southern Africa and in Pakistan, Cambodia and the Yemen. Her current passion is for distilling health information for teachers, health workers and others – into simple practical health messages actionable by children.
http://www.hifa.org/projects/citizens-parents-and-children
http://www.hifa.org/support/members/clare
Email: clare.hanbury AT zen.co.uk
