Why are all children from a group in a kindergarten in Sofia quarantined after they have given negative results for coronavirus tests? Why can their parents move freely after living
in a home? Who should take care of the kids, since they can’t be left alone because of their age?
There is no answer to these questions. However, there is an absurd situation in one of the two kindergartens in Sofia, where some cases of coronavirus have been identified. One of the mothers of the affected children told Iskra.bg about the situation. Her identity we will not be revealed, so as not to harm her child:
The other parents and me were unofficially informed that there was an infected child in the kindergarten. It’s part of my kid’s group. We were told to wait for the official procedure, which includes notifying the Regional Health Inspectorate.
On Thursday, the nurse from the nursery called the families to let them know that the information had been officially confirmed. Teachers, other staff and little ones should be put under a 14-day quarantine:
I know that RHI counts the last day of contact with the patient. In the afternoon there was a new call from the nurse – the next day from 8h15 a.m. to 8h30 a.m. all children should come to a hospital in Sofia to be tested.
The families received an apology that they had to break the quarantine and reunite, provided it was forbidden. In the yard of the medical institution the children played together while waiting for their samples to be taken:
This happened even though we are officially under isolation. I am not a specialist, but the sampling procedure seemed unprofessional to me. My child was sampled with a swab from his nose and throat, just turning the stick. But I will not comment, others are the experts.
At 3 p.m. the parents learned the results – they are not positive. And then they asked the director of the kindergarten: „If everything is fine, should they observe the period of isolation?“.
There was no specific answer. The RHI also did not ask them to express their opinion:
I live with my child. I also have a second child. We go out, we meet people, we communicate. Quarantine does not apply to us. Where is the logic? Here comes the other case that my husband or I should stay home and take care of the kid. It’s not a problem for me, because at this stage I work from home, but for other families it is.
The GP explained that the system showed that the child was under quarantine and they should receive a call from the RHI to give them information. She also pointed out that they could be checked to see if they were at the address. One of the parents could receive sick leave for the 14-day period, but it was issued after the days expired:
It was not clear what had to be presented to the employer to justify your two-week absence. In the end, we found out that the number of the RHI prescription was wanted, which we always thought we didn’t have. It turned out that the document was in the school, but the principal did not tell us.
The mother claims that it is absurd for her and other families to keep their healthy children locked up and possibly expect someone to check on them. They called the RHI, and the employees who picked up were surprised that the quarantine had not been lifted.
Mothers and fathers do not know who is right and who is wrong. However, the quarantine is underway, and on its last day new samples should be taken from the kids. The affected persons describe the situation as insane and happening in the complete absence of organization:
Most likely, everything will remain the same and no one will deal with us anymore.
