Last March 2020, many childcare centers were forced to close its doors due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Some stayed open for essential workers but closures kept on coming due to COVID-19 outbreaks in centers and daycares. As center providers and daycare owners slowly started to learn how to cope, childcare businesses opened their doors once again.
Now as new variants emerge, with some becoming more contagious to young children than others, childcare businesses must once again re-learn how to prevent their precarious but essential childcare businesses being shuttered by coronavirus.
Health contingency plan
Have a health contingency plan for when someone in the center starts developing symptoms.
While temperature and health checks at the door are now a daily precaution, symptoms can still develop within childcare hours. For these cases, a health contingency plan in place will help the center and staff address the situation with swift action and decisiveness. This is particularly handy when a child is involved whose parent or guardian cannot pick up the child immediately,
Having an isolation playroom can make a child feel safe and entertained while not fearing being separated from his/her classmates. There should also be a designated staff member who must do contact tracing immediately in case the staff or child developing symptoms turn out to be positive with coronavirus.
Strict classroom assignments
To help with limiting contact and virus spread among children and childcare staff, classrooms should not be switched in the middle of the day. This limits children and staff from different classes mingling and interacting–and helps faster and easier contact tracing. Sticking to a single classroom also limits the possible spread of coronavirus within a classroom.
If being stuck in the same classroom for a day makes children restless, consider the possibility of having outdoor classrooms where air circulation is better. If outdoor space is an issue, consider taking children within a class by small groups to still encourage a wider personal space.
Outdoor classrooms can consist of public parks and playgrounds. You also survey your surrounding businesses to see which private establishments can lend space for an hour or two for the children’s short outdoor excursion.
Health checks
Checking for symptoms of cough, cold, and temperatures when children and staff first arrive is a good preventative measure in protecting the childcare center from possible COVID-19 infection. It’s best to have parents wait while these health checks are done so parents can bring symptomatic children home and prevent them from being isolated within the center.
Vaccination
While vaccination cannot be mandated, childcare centers and family day cares can find ways to incentivize getting vaccinated. Having fully vaccinated personnel can lower the risk of childcare staff infecting children in their care. Vaccination will also prevent staff from having severe Coronavirus. Giving childcare staff benefits for vaccinating can definitely help reluctant staff in getting it.
If you’re hiring, it’s best to add vaccination as a requirement. This ensures that new hires will be less likely to contract severe COVID-19 and use fewer sick leaves than unvaccinated personnel.
Mask protocols
Same with vaccination, as federal, state, and local governments clash with childcare and CDC policies, encouraging both staff and children over age 2 to wear masks can help in preventing COVID-19 spread. Masking will especially help unvaccinated staff to mitigate the risk of COVID-19 in the center.
COVID-19 Case Incidence Tracker
Let data become your ally to show your center’s capability of curbing COVID-19 spread. Having a table of all the staff and children, their temperatures, symptoms, or COVID-19 tests can help inform authorities of your childcare business’ commitment to monitoring and preventing COVID-19 infection among staff and children in the center. A tracker will also be instrumental in faster and accurate contact tracing.
While COVID-19 is continuously hampering childcare businesses to operate at full capacity, temporary closures certainly add more financial strain. By doing any or all of the above preventative measures, childcare providers can ensure their centers and daycare facilities stay open to serve the children and families in their communities.
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