Is it a cold or COVID?

[WCCO-TV News, October 12, 2021] With children back in school after more than a year of distance learning, there are a lot of viruses going around. Experts say the best way to know whether or not your child’s cold-like symptoms are COVID is to test for it.

But when testing at the sign of every sniffle isn’t an option, what should you look for?

Dr. Frank Rhame says it’s a good idea to call your child’s school or childcare center to see if there have been outbreaks of any one type of virus. Also, evaluate if your child is going to be around any unvaccinated, high risk individuals.

“The best possible circumstances to not test (are) runny nose alone, no outbreak of COVID in your school, no fever. But if you wander from that — like cough or fever or shortness of breath — for sure I would want to check into,” Rhame said.