Pediatrician shares advice for students returning to the classroom amid pandemic

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — More students will be returning to in-person learning soon, and that means parents need to prepare too.

"First and foremost, what parents should be thinking about should be those routine-type of preventative habits and really be reenforcing that with their kids," said Dr. John Pederson, the medical director of the Presbyterian Children’s Program.

Pederson is talking about washing hands, social distancing and mask-wearing to prevent the virus from spreading from school to home — or vice versa.

He recommends that students have clothes that are designated as "school clothes" and other clothes designated as "home clothes." Once students come home after school, they can put their school clothes in a hamper close to the door, and then put on clean clothes and wash their hands.

Pederson said the virus can live on multiple surfaces for days — so backpacks should be laundered, and pencils, computers and notebooks should be wiped down with bleach wipes.

However, don’t drench items with disinfectants because Pederson said all those chemicals could also do more harm than good.