Parents increasingly unwilling to have their child tested for coronavirus

The willingness of Dutch parents to have their child tested for the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus infection is very limited, NOS reported based on research conducted by organization Ouders en Onderwijs, which translates to "Parents and Education". Some 25% of surveyed parents said they would opt for their children to go into a 10-day quarantine instead of getting tested for the virus if a classmate is infected.

When a young student tests positive for the coronavirus infection, their classmates and those with whom they attend daycare or after-school care are supposed to enter a ten-day quarantine. Children can exit the quarantine after five days if they test negative for the infection.

"We have not yet addressed this directly, but of course we do receive notifications from parents. It is a combination of being afraid of a test, but also parents having doubts about the test result or disagreeing with the general coronavirus crisis approach," said Lobke Vlaming, the director of Parents & Education.

Additionally, another quarter of surveyed participants said they would be willing to have their child tested only in case they were experiencing symptoms of Covid-19. Forty percent of parents expressed a positive attitude about testing and the remaining 10% answered that they have not yet had to deal with the issue.

The same research also showed that more parents are now more concerned about their child being infected with the coronavirus. The percentage went up from 40% recorded around last year’s summer holidays to 60% now. The rising concerns have, not resulted in parents being more enthusiastic about testing, the organization concluded.

The survey was conducted between March 26 and April 5 and involved some 1,436 parents whose children attended primary or secondary education.