Updated guidance shortens COVID-19 isolation time for unvaccinated B.C. children

Children who catch COVID-19 while unvaccinated only need to self-isolate as long as their fully vaccinated peers, according to new guidance from the B.C. Centre for Disease Control.

The latest messaging on the BCCDC website confirms anyone under the age of 18 can stop self-isolating once their symptoms have improved, their fever has resolved without the use of medication, and it's been at least five days since they tested positive or became symptomatic.

Those guidelines apply regardless of a child or teenager's vaccination status. Previously, unvaccinated children were treated the same as unvaccinated adults, who have to self-isolate for at least 10 days.

Everyone who ends self-isolation should also "avoid non-essential visits to higher risk settings such as long-term care facilities and gatherings" for an additional five days, according to the BCCDC.

The latest changes to the guidance will have major implications for thousands of B.C. families, as well as daycares across the province.

For weeks, many daycare operators struggled to understand how to proceed after a child caught COVID-19, as there was conflicting information from different sources.

"These kinds of recommendations have not yet been translated into the written regulations on which they count on to operate on a day-to-day basis, so there's a disconnect," said Dr. Brian Conway of the Vancouver Infectious Diseases Centre.

On Tuesday, provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said B.C. is in a "time of transition," and that officials were working with the child-care sector, early childhood educators and the Ministry of Children and Family Development to update the guidelines.

Provinces set their own rules when it comes to self-isolation, though the Public Health Agency of Canada still recommends people isolate for at least 10 days after the test positive or develop symptoms.

Conway noted that scientific understanding of COVID-19 and new variants is constantly changing, which is why public health measures and guidelines are updated so often.

"As the science evolves – and it does so on a daily basis sometimes – it is evaluated by content experts, who would then suggest what should be done according to that science of the day," Conway said. "It isn't that I've changed my mind since yesterday or two days ago, it's that a new set of facts have emerged."

The science also needs to be weighed against what people feel comfortable doing, the doctor added – meaning rampant COVID-19 fatigue could be a factor.

The BCCDC's guidelines for adults who aren't fully vaccinated remain the same. Those individuals must wait at least 10 days since their symptoms emerged, or since they tested positive.

The BCCDC doesn't consider someone fully vaccinated unless it's been 14 days since their second shot.