Important Update to COVID-19 Screening
Updated June 22, 2022
As a reminder, Cook Children’s changed its policy several months ago regarding when an appointment can be made for a child, following an active COVID-19 infection.
Patients can now be seen throughout the system 10 days after a positive COVID-19 test.
Out of an abundance of caution, we do ask that families of severely immunosuppressed patients continue to wait for 21 days before making an appointment. Examples include children who are on active chemotherapy or recently received a transplant.
Otherwise, we are allowing patients to return to an appointment 10 days after they tested positive. This is a change from our former policy of waiting 21 days between appointments, and this change overrides all previously communicated guidance.
We have made this change, based on recent science that the “majority of the SARS-CoV-2 transmission occurs early in the course of illness, generally in the 1-2 days prior to onset of symptoms and 2-3 days after.
IMPORTANT: If there is a compelling reason for the patient to be seen during the 10 days (21 days for severely immunocompromised) after a positive COVID-19 test, please make sure the patient and their family members wear a well-fitting mask and are in appropriate isolation while in the clinic. Compelling reasons include such things as getting a cast removed, chemotherapy, new diagnosis of diabetes, or other things that, in the opinion of the physician, should not wait.
Please make sure that patients and their families wear their masks at all times during their appointment.
Thank you to IT and the Epic team for adding this new policy into all current screening questions when a patient family visits Cook Children’s.
Click the images below for EPIC screenshots.
