COVID triage machine 3000
—> You answered: NO. While the patient does have an UNCONFIRMED or borderline exposure, they do not have any symptoms. Here’s what to do for the patient and other members of your family.
Plan for the patient:
Testing? Not recommended at this time. BUT, if the index cases has pending test results, await those test results and redo the triage if positive.
What if I want testing for my child anyway? If supply levels are adequate, we’re happy to schedule a test if you’re just feeling worried about it (following the plan for confirmed exposure). But it’s not as useful as you’d think:
It won’t change medical management or outcomes for your child.
Often, the index case doesn’t end up having it.
Even when they do, most children won’t catch it, especially if not < 6 feet for > 15 minutes.
Even when children do catch it, most would either have symptoms or be missed by testing without symptoms.
So the chance of actually testing positive because of this is not much different from simply testing at random, with the myriad of unknown exposures we experience all the time. Your child could still potentially harbor and transmit the virus to someone even if they test negative, so that wouldn’t guarantee they’re safe to play with grandma this weekend. This is why we try to focus testing on situations where the risk is significantly different from baseline.
Does anyone else in family need testing?
No, but they might if:
Patient above tests and is positive (if so, redo triage from family member’s perspective since they’ve been exposed).
Index case comes back with positive result and patient was confirmed to be exposed (if so, redo triage from patient’s perspective with confirmed instead of unconfirmed exposure).
Family member needs testing for other reasons (eg they have symptoms).
Should we notify anyone?
No, not unless anyone in family later tests positive.
Notes:
Patient: the person you are looking for advice or testing for (eg your child, yourself).
Index case = the contagious person who exposed your family to COVID.
Direct exposure = < 6 feet away for > 15 cumulative minutes over 24 hours or shared drink/being coughed/sneezed on.
Urgent attention needs are essentially the same with COVID as any other viral illness. If your child is in respiratory distress (labored breathing, rapid breathing, unable to speak), severe lethargy/poor responsiveness, profuse vomiting, significant dehydration/urine output reduced below every 8 hours, or an infant less than 2 months old with fever. See our webpages for help with any of these topics, such as our common cold, flu, or dehydration pages. And remember, you’re not alone - if it’s not clear on these pages whether your child’s symptoms require immediate attention simply call us or page your doctor if after hours.
Important: this triage system is only applicable to established patients of Trailhead Pediatrics and is not general medical advice for the public, nor are our services available to patients who are not established in our care.
Same-day appointments
For urgent needs, same-day appointments are available Monday through Friday. Please call as early in the day as possible, the more notice we have the easier it is to fit everyone in.
Need help outside of office hours?
Firstly, if your child has an emergency, please call 911 or go directly to the ER - they will contact us if needed once your child has been evaluated.
Urgent Care centers can also be helpful when something needs to be seen outside of office hours but it's not an emergency.
For our list of preferred Urgent Cares and ERs, see our resources page.
And if you have something that might need urgent attention but you're not sure/don't know what to do, we can help: