Coronavirus

How Risky Is A Babysitter?

In our series "What's the Risk?" experts weigh in on what risks different scenarios pose for transmitting COVID-19.

How Risky Is A Babysitter?
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As the school year starts, you might be wondering about the risks of getting sick with COVID-19.  

We asked the experts, how risky is getting a babysitter?

Their take: The risk of contracting COVID-19 from a babysitter is low risk.

"Having one individual person who is, again, perhaps part of your individual quarantine bubble might make less of a risk factor for you if you're comfortable with that than having different babysitters," Annette Anderson, deputy director for the Johns Hopkins University Center for Safe and Healthy Schools, told Newsy.

"I would actually have the babysitter go outside, you know, instead of having it at night, you know, maybe taking your break in the afternoon where you can say the babysitter for next two hours, you guys are over at the park where it's outdoors and out of the house. And then you get you and your spouse can take a break as opposed to actually having them indoors," Cleveland Clinic pediatric infectious diseases specialist Dr. Frank Esper said. 

"That risk is one that's hard to really categorize, I would say variable. If you have an established relationship with a routine babysitter and can work into your agreement that the babysitter is going to do their part to mitigate their risk, so I think it really depends on the babysitter honestly," Dr. Jasmine Marcelin, infectious disease specialist at Nebraska Medicine, told Newsy.

For more answers on what is low, medium, or high risk, visit newsy.com/whatstherisk.