Charles Schleien, MD, describes the effect the omicron variant has had on children amid the recent surge of Covid-19 cases and hospitalizations. In addition, Dwayne Breining, MD, joins the podcast to answer common questions about Covid-19 testing.

Meet the experts:

Dr. Schleien is senior vice president and chair of pediatric services at Northwell Health and chair of pediatrics at the Barbara & Donald Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell

Dr. Breining is executive director of Northwell Health Labs and Pathology

Chapters:

00:38 - Covid-19 antigen test vs PCR test

02:47 - What to do if exposed to Covid-19

03:58 - Testing for variants

04:32 - Using a Covid-19 at home test

05:00 - False negative rapid covid test

05:50 - Covid-19 at home test recommendations

06:21 - Omicron's impact on testing

07:41 - How omicron impacts kids

10:01 - Hospitalizations

11:10 - Omicron on Long Island

13:24 - Pediatric vaccination rates

15:28 - Kids and long covid

16:51 - Protective measures for kids, families