Daniel Johnson, MD, speaks about COVID-19 prevention for kids at Illinois governor's press conference
October 27, 2020
[MUSIC PLAYING] Good afternoon. My name is Dr. Daniel Johnson. I'm a pediatric infectious disease specialist at the University of Chicago Comer Children's Hospital. And that's why I'm here. But I'm also here because I'm a parent. I'm a parent of two children, and I take care of children.
And unfortunately, I've had the responsibility of taking care of children with COVID-19. And I'm lucky as a pediatric infectious disease specialist because children don't get, generally speaking, quite as sick from SARS-CoV-2 as adults do. But unfortunately a small number of them do develop serious and life-threatening medical problems and require the services of an infectious disease specialist.
The most important thing to me right now is trying to figure out how all of us can work together in order to prevent the spread of COVID-19. And the most important word in our vocabulary right now is mitigation. Wear a mask.
You see, I haven't taken off my mask today because I want to show you that you can do almost everything that you need to do with your mask on when you're around other people. I mean, what are the exceptions? I can't kiss my wife, and it's hard to eat.
But the truth is that you can take your mask off and eat just for that short period of time. It doesn't take long to consume food. Put that mask back on, and then you're mitigating again. So wear a mask. Have separation between you and others. You can see the distance between us. It's 6 feet. It's not that hard.
Wash your hands. Hygiene goes a long way to prevent not only the spread of COVID-19 but also other infectious diseases. And of course pod formation. So that that way if someone in your group does develop and get COVID-19, it's a small group that's impacted.
These have been proven to prevent the spread of COVID-19. We've heard quite a bit about sports today, and I am not an athlete. I was never a D, A, B, or C. But what I will tell you is that we all have a new sport right now. And that new sport is mitigation.
Teach your children how to compete with each other around mitigation. See who can wear their mask the longest. See who can follow the recommendations. I fully agree with the guidelines that are coming out now around sports. Because sports certainly present a risk to our children and to others who are looking over them.
It is true that children are less likely to spread COVID-19 if they're below the age of 10, but they can spread it. They spread it if they're asymptomatic, meaning they have no symptoms. They can spread it if they have symptoms. Children above the age of 10 spread it every bit as well as adults.
And you've heard the reasons why sports present some risk. So you need non-contact sports is what you want your kids to engage in so that that way they protect themselves. They protect others. So this new sport is mitigation. I hope everyone will practice it.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
University of Chicago Medicine pediatric infectious diseases expert Daniel Johnson, MD, spoke during the Illinois governor's COVID-19 press conference on October 27, 2020. Hear his tips for children and families on how to help reduce the spread of COVID-19.
Full transcript from Dr. Johnson's speech:
Good afternoon. My name is Dr. Daniel Johnson. I'm a pediatric infectious disease specialist at the University of Chicago Comer Children's Hospital. And that's why I'm here. But I'm also here because I'm a parent. I'm a parent of two children, and I take care of children.
And unfortunately, I've had the responsibility of taking care of children with COVID-19. And I'm lucky as a pediatric infectious disease specialist because children don't get, generally speaking, quite as sick from SARS-CoV-2 as adults do. But unfortunately a small number of them do develop serious and life-threatening medical problems and require the services of an infectious disease specialist.
The most important thing to me right now is trying to figure out how all of us can work together in order to prevent the spread of COVID-19. And the most important word in our vocabulary right now is mitigation. Wear a mask.
You see, I haven't taken off my mask today because I want to show you that you can do almost everything that you need to do with your mask on when you're around other people. I mean, what are the exceptions? I can't kiss my wife, and it's hard to eat.
But the truth is that you can take your mask off and eat just for that short period of time. It doesn't take long to consume food. Put that mask back on, and then you're mitigating again. So wear a mask. Have separation between you and others. You can see the distance between us. It's 6 feet. It's not that hard.
Wash your hands. Hygiene goes a long way to prevent not only the spread of COVID-19 but also other infectious diseases. And of course pod formation. So that that way if someone in your group does develop and get COVID-19, it's a small group that's impacted.
These have been proven to prevent the spread of COVID-19. We've heard quite a bit about sports today, and I am not an athlete. I was never a D, A, B, or C. But what I will tell you is that we all have a new sport right now. And that new sport is mitigation.
Teach your children how to compete with each other around mitigation. See who can wear their mask the longest. See who can follow the recommendations. I fully agree with the guidelines that are coming out now around sports. Because sports certainly present a risk to our children and to others who are looking over them.
It is true that children are less likely to spread COVID-19 if they're below the age of 10, but they can spread it. They spread it if they're asymptomatic, meaning they have no symptoms. They can spread it if they have symptoms. Children above the age of 10 spread it every bit as well as adults.
And you've heard the reasons why sports present some risk. So you need non-contact sports is what you want your kids to engage in so that that way they protect themselves. They protect others. So this new sport is mitigation. I hope everyone will practice it.
Daniel Johnson, MD
Daniel Johnson, MD, is an expert in pediatric infectious diseases and in the care of HIV-infected children. Dr. Johnson is committed to the development of community-based pediatric care in underserved areas, accomplished through partnerships with federally qualified health clinics and community hospitals.
Learn more about Dr. Johnson
