Whether parents opted to send their kids back to school or keep them at home for virtual learning this fall was a difficult decision to make. Not knowing the exact details of each option in August when families needed to make the decision was causing stress on parents across the province.
But for Bradford mother, Kimberly Harvey, sending her kids back to school has been better than she expected, especially for her son Jeremy who has a compromised immune system due to having a rare genetic disorder called KAT6A.
BradfordToday did a story on Jeremy earlier this year for Rare Disease Day, which can be found here.
Prior to COVID, Jeremy was always getting sick at school, causing him to miss a lot of class, and kept at home. Because his immune system is weaker than most others, something like a small cold could send him to the hospital.
"Jeremy was sick all year when attending school (before COVID)," said Harvey. "He would get better over Christmas, March Break and summer and then after a couple weeks into returning to school he would get sick agian."
She said his immune system would get so overwhelmed after being sick for long periods of time, he would often require hospitalization.
"A cold would be not just be longer to recover, but more serious most times, most of his seizures were linked to the common cold," she said. "We would be lucky to get him to school for a full five days in a row."
So when schools reopened in September with enhanced cleaning and hygiene policies, Harvey was grateful for the extra precautions being taken to keep kids safe.
"I live in a world where everyday all types of viruses can be deadly for him, so this was normal life for us," she explained. "He's safer now in school than he ever was before in the regular environment because there was always so many sick kids at school."
Now, with stricter screening and hyper awareness surrounding COVID, Harvey feels better having Jeremy in class.
"Because he's safer now than ever before, I feel confident sending him to school and I know that's not the same case for most parents but this is my life everyday, not just COVID," she explained.
Harvey has been pleased thus far with the support from Jeremy's school, with a smaller class size and plenty of safety precautions in place.
"I had a long conversation with the principal about a safety plan for him (Jeremy), they've done an amazing job," she said.
Due to Jeremy's condition and sensory issues, he can't wear a mask, which the school community has been accepting of. But Harvey notes there are some people who have not been understanding of his situation.
"I've been told I'm an anti-masker," she said, despite the fact that she and the rest of her family all wear them in public.
"I'm all for masks by choice but when you mandate them it creates problems like these...I hope we can get it right eventually so that people feel they can still live their lives and not feel excluded," she said.
One thing Harvey hopes that sticks around in a post COVID-19 world is the idea of staying home when sick.
"Maybe people will have respect for viruses after this and what they can do to the actual vulnerable people," she said. "The one thing I truly hope people learn out of all this
With the recent policy change made by the government last week that now allows children to attend school with minor symptoms of illness like a runny nose and cough, Harvey is not too pleased.
"It does bother me because people need to break habits," she explained. "It's better to keep kids home for a few days here and there. It's not just COVID that can seriously hurt people who are vulnerable."
Overall, Harvey hopes the enhanced precautions are here to stay, and people will be more conscious of their hygiene and respectful when it comes to illness and germs.
"Even if it's nothing to you and seems like a minor illness...to someone else it could be a death sentence."
