Parents of high-risk children ramp up COVID precautions as Charlotte mask mandate ends
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In NC schools, the masks are off
Over two years into the pandemic, NC state agencies are now relaxing mask mandates. But not everyone may feel ready, while some may be relieved.
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After suffering through two years of a pandemic that has claimed the lives of more than 1,500 people in Mecklenburg County and almost 1 million across the nation, many are rejoicing that mask mandates are, at long last, being lifted.
However, parents of children who are categorized as high-risk are having a different reaction to the elimination of COVID-related precautions.
“A bit frustrating.” That’s how Jillian Koroskenyi, a mother of three and caretaker of two children with cystic fibrosis, described the lifting of mask mandates.
Koroskenyi and her husband, Michael, are parents to Alaina, Zackery, and Christian, the latter two of whom were born with cystic fibrosis (CF), a genetic disease that causes persistent infection of the lungs, according to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.
It is now common knowledge that people with immunodeficiencies and underlying health issues are considered “high-risk” individuals for coronavirus infection. Those with lung conditions like chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), lung cancer, and moderate to severe asthma are more likely to develop severe symptoms if they contract COVID-19, according to the Mayo Clinic.
That list includes individuals who suffer from cystic fibrosis and it’s why Koroskenyi and her husband have kept Zackery and Christian home from school since the start of the pandemic.
Although the boys have battled CF their whole lives, Koroskenyi says the added strain of protecting them from COVID-19 has affected their family in several ways. Throughout the pandemic, whenever one of the boys was hospitalized due to a routine decline in health, the Koroskenyi family would be forced to split up.
“When one of the boys was in the hospital we couldn’t see any of the rest of the family. Nobody came up, and I didn’t leave,” Koroskenyi said. “We missed out on so many fun opportunities as a family because it was too risky.”
The Centers for Disease Control estimates that a majority of the country’s children have had the virus at some point – nearly 60% of people 17 and under have been infected so far, in comparison with about 43% of the country as a whole. Since the start of the pandemic, 970 U.S. children have died of the virus, according to CDC provisional death figures.
In North Carolina, there have been a total of 16 COVID-related deaths among children between the ages of 2 to 17, data from the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services indicated. That same age group accounted for 446,090 infections since 2020.
Still, as the world begins its steady return to a new kind of “normal,” parents like the Koroskenyis are left behind to continue their regimen of precaution to protect the health of their children.
“Mask mandates being lifted is a bit frustrating being we aren’t out of this yet,” Koroskenyi said. “Makes us not want to go out as much now because a lot more (people) are not wearing masks.”
The Koroskenyis had been considering allowing Zackery and Christian to return to school soon, but the dropping of mask mandates has forced them to reevaluate. Instead, the boys will remain at home for the foreseeable future.
That’s the best way to keep the boys out of harm’s way and guard them from potential contamination by the general public. So far, it seems to be working, according to Koroskenyi, who has seen less of a need for hospitalization of the boys.
“We’ve been out (of the hospital) a while right now though, thankfully, because the boys have been home and not in school,” Koroskenyi said.
More than just keeping them home from school, however, the Koroskenyis’ plan moving forward includes masking, avoiding “big get-togethers,” and limiting Zackery and Christian’s access to public settings.
“We have not taken the boys out a lot since mask mandates started dropping,” Koroskenyi said. “I don’t want to shield the boys but their health is so important and we are not out of COVID yet.”
This story was originally published March 6, 2022 at 6:00 AM.
