What happens with the children...

[Lou573]

If both my husband and I are struck down with Coronavirus and unable to look after them? Either hospitalised or bedridden? Baby and preschooler, presumably family can’t step in if we’re all contagious? I assume lots of others are in the same predicament.

@PeterPanGoesWrong - what would happen is family would take the kids in the scenarios you list. As I said above, it’s not that straightforward with Coronavirus.

Glad to hear the majority think we could soldier through, would certainly rather do that than ship the kids off to infect someone else.

As per PP , it is unlikely you will be hospitalised. I saw on the news today that the majority of positive cases in Italy are people who are recovering at home

If we were both hospitalised then ds would have to go into residential care the same as if we were both in an accident and had to stay in a hospital. There would be no other option but the chances of it happening are very small.

We don’t have any family to help at all. There was a time when all four of got norovirus at the same and it was the most brutal five days of parenting so far. My main concern is if we all got it and DT2 who has medical issues had to be hospitalised - one of us would have to go with him, the other would have to stay at home with the other twin. They are both disabled so hard to manage even when well.

Just hoping that, given we are all quite likely to get it at some point it won’t hit us too hard.

I asked this the other day. Opinion seemed to be it's unlikely, muddle through and foster care. I can't see where all the foster carers willing to take on an incubating child are likely to come from mind you.

The same as would happen if both parents were hospitalised in any other circumstances. Social services would attempt to contact your close family to see if someone can take them, and if not they would go into emergency foster care.

But as others have said, the majority of people have mild disease. Eventually those people will be asked to stay at home rather than going into hospital. It's quite unlikely both parents would be hospitalised, though of course possible and I'm sure there will be a few cases, as well as single parents in hospital.

I'm a single parent and I'm not even worrying. It's highly, highly unlikely you will both get it and be hospitalised. If it did happen and there was absolutely no one else, they wouldn't be left to look after themselves. They would have to go into some kind of care and stay in isolation there.

I think it's worth looking at the numbers in China still in hospital figures.

It's really sensible to plan! We were foster carers when swine flu hit and were expected to come up with a plan.

This time, it's reasonable to assume that you will cope as people usually do. A combination of sleeping on the sofa while dc watch tv, feeding them jam sandwiches, and not bothering with less essential caring routines like bath times etc. Basically, all rules are off, they can eat sweets and watch tv, whatever it takes to keep them out of trouble and alive while you feel ill.