If your child is COVID-19 positive, this guide (developed with KidsHealth NZ) will help you care for your child at home and know when to ask for help.
Most children with COVID-19 get mild symptoms or none at all. A small number will become more unwell and need extra care from their doctor, or in hospital. Children with COVID-19 can still get other illnesses. If you are worried about your child you can still get help for them even though you are isolating at home.
Use these three steps:
- Recognise – know what to look out for to tell if your child is becoming unwell. See COVID-19 – what to expect.
- Record – keep track of your child’s symptoms using a diary. Some children will also get a pulse oximeter. This is for checking oxygen levels.
- Respond – know when to ask for help and how to get it. See the advice below about how to manage symptoms at home, and what to do if your child becomes unwell.
COVID-19 – what to expect
Most children will have mild COVID-19 symptoms for up to 2 weeks. Symptoms tend to appear around 2-5 days after a person is infected but can take up to 14 days to show.
Days 1–3
Early symptoms of COVID-19 vary widely.
- Sometimes it begins with a sore/upset tummy or a bout of diarrhoea (runny poo) or vomiting (being sick).
- It can start with a tickle in your throat, a cough, fever or headache. Your child may also have difficulty breathing. Learn about the signs that a child is struggling to breathe.
- Some children feel tired and may lose their sense of taste and smell.
- Your child may have some or none of the above.
Days 4–6
These are important days to be more aware of your child's symptoms. This is when breathing may start to get worse.
- Your child may start to feel worse and may have aches, chills, a cough and be unsettled or irritable.
- Some children may develop rashes, including itchy red patches, swelling or blistering on the toes or fingers.
Days 7–8
- For children with mild illness, the worst is generally over after a week.
- Some children may get worse at this point, or start to feel better briefly then take a turn for the worse.
- There is more detail about how to tell if your child needs more help, and how to get it, in the section Recognising and responding if your child becomes unwell.
Days 8–12 (week 2)
Days 13–14
- Most children will feel better by now. Some may feel more tired than usual.
- It is best for your child to return to activity slowly.
- If your child has ongoing symptoms, your healthcare team will let you know what to do.
From 2–6 weeks
A very small number of children develop a serious condition after having COVID called PIMS-TS (Paediatric Inflammatory Multisystem Syndrome Temporally associated with SARS-CoV-2). Children with this condition can have the following problems:
- fever lasting for 5 or more days
- breathing difficulty
- tummy pain, vomiting or runny poo (diarrhoea)
- red lips or tongue
- red eyes
- a skin rash
- cold or swollen hands or feet.
There is more detail about how to tell if your child needs more help, and how to get it, in the section Recognising and responding if your child becomes unwell.
Record your child’s symptoms
Keeping track of your child’s symptoms and how they are feeling helps you and the healthcare team looking after them know if your child becomes more unwell. Make a record of the following things three times a day in your diary:
If you have been given a pulse oximeter for your child also record the following things.
Use this diary as it also has space for the pulse rate and oxygen level to be recorded. It is important you get an accurate measurement so check the instruction on how to use a pulse oximeter.
Recognise and respond if your child becomes unwell
If you are worried about your child, ask for help. You could:
- call your healthcare team using the number given to you
- call the after-hours healthcare team using the number given to you
- call Healthline on 0800 358 5453 if you are unsure about what to do
- dial 111 for urgent medical help.
Stay calm and explain why you are worried about your child, and tell them that your child is being looked after at home with COVID-19.
If you are waiting to hear back from your doctor and think that your child is getting sicker, call back and calmly explain why you are worried.
If you have already seen or talked to a doctor but your child is getting worse, call your doctor back and tell them what is happening.
When should I dial 111?
Dial 111 and ask for urgent medical help if your child:
- Has blue lips and tongue.
- Has severe difficulty breathing.
- Has any episodes of irregular breathing or stopping breathing.
- Has a worrying rash especially one that does not go away when you press on it (see a photo of a meningococcal rash).
- Is unconscious or you can't wake them up properly.
- Has been in a serious accident.
- Has an oxygen level less than 92% (if you have been given a pulse oximeter).
