ST. CLOUD -- As school districts across the state figure out what style of learning is best for their situation, a huge question on everyone's mind is what happens when a child gets sick.

Some of the common illnesses kids get during the school year include colds, flu and stomach bugs.

The Minnesota Departments of Health and Education have provided schools with pages of guidelines following the governor's announcement Thursday.

Dr. Andrew Maloney is a pediatrician at CentraCare. He says if students do go back to school this fall, it's important to get them caught up on all their shots.

We are seeing everyone at this moment, and have been for months, and have seen many kids for their school physicals.

Maloney says they also have drive through vaccinations for families who are not comfortable coming into the doctor's office.

State health officials have stressed the importance of keeping your kid up to date with the shots, as the pandemic has delayed many doctor visits.

Maloney says one of the biggest unknown school districts and health officials will face this year is what happens during a typical flu season.

When there is that huge amount of patients that have had those symptoms, like we expect in a normal flu season year, we know it's going to be more difficult and we are working on solutions for that.

Maloney says the best advice he can give parents is to stress the importance of hand hygiene, wearing a mask and social distancing.

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