Dr. Camerson Huxford of the Huxford Clinic in Starkville discusses the concerns many parents have about sending their children back to school while the COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread.
For more information, call (662) 615-3721 or visit www.huxfordclinic.com
Troy thompson: welcome to on the beat, everyone.
I'm troy thompson.
Joining me in the studio today is dr. huxford.
And today we're talking all about the facts and figures and the concerns that parents have about sending their kids back to school.
Welcome to the show, my friend.
Nice to see you.
Dr. huxford: hello.
Good afternoon.
Troy thompson: okay.
So one of the conversations we wanted to have today with you is in regards to sending back kids to school.
How do you feel about that and where are we standing out there?
Dr. huxford: well, first of all, i share with you what i also am having to do myself.
I have seven children and they all started back to school this week here in starkville.
And there are lots of regulations in place.
The students are getting their temperature checked before they get out of their vehicle or their parents' vehicles.
They have to wear a mask the time that they leave the car until they get to their room.
Anytime that they're in transit in the buildings, they're wearing masks.
And through the first week, they finished this week and there were no major problems. troy thompson: well, i just want to touch on it since you brought it up if you wouldn't mind.
Dr. fauci just came out and said temperature checks are not a 100% reliable because of the amount of heat that we have here in the south.
Dr. huxford: you have a lot people who are asymptomatic.
They have the virus and won't exhibit any symptoms. so it's not perfect, but it is something that we're doing.
I do think that the education of our children is very important and we should restore that as soon as we can and as safely as we can.
Troy thompson: i understand.
And we hear a lot of conversation about masks.
There were a lot of issues when it came to atlanta, georgia with kids going back to school and overcrowding the hallways and very little amount of masks were being worn.
Where do you stand and what advice do you give to parents out there about maybe insisting that their children wear the mask in the classroom as well?
Dr. huxford: as you said, in mississippi at least anyway.
Right now, it's the law that you have to wear a mask all the time.
So there's no excuse for children coming to school without a mask.
They're turned around, they have to go home and get it.
So they're not allowed to come in without some type of facial covering.
And i do know from my children's school, that there are masks being used in the classroom as well.
Troy thompson: good.
All right.
Let's talk a little bit about a slide that we're about to bring up from mississippi department of health.
Can we just talk that through?
Dr. huxford: yeah.
I wanted to show this to the viewers out there is because it breaks down the covid cases in mississippi per age group.
Zero to 18 is one of the age groups.
So that's our school-aged children.
They have the least amount of cases per the age group compared to the other ones.
There's been no deaths in mississippi in zero to 18-year-old children.
So i think based on that at least from my perspective as a physician and mine as a parent, i am comfortable with my children going back to school.
Troy thompson: what precautions do parents need to take when getting their kids back from school in the afternoons?
What do you suggest that they do to ... i don't like to use the word sterilize them, if you know what i mean?
But do you know what i'm saying?
What can they do?
Dr. huxford: sure.
I think what we tell our kids at home is wash your hands for sure because a lot of times kids want to eat a snack when they get home from school.
So we make them wash their hands before they go to the refrigerator, before they go to the pantry to get a snack.
That's very important.
Maybe the older kids have them shower just to clean off, change clothes, put on a play clothes and get off their school clothes.
Simple things like that.
Troy thompson: well, i think that's fantastic and always great information.
And if you have any more need, go to mississippi department of health's website.
They have a lot of information on there.
Dr. cameron, we appreciate you.
Troy thompson: if you want to find out more information, there it is all is up on the screen.
We'll be back after this short
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