Please know that we here at MN Child Care Health Consultants, Inc. are keeping apprised of the Coronavirus situation and following The MN Dept. Of Health (MDH) and The Centers for Disease Control (CDC)’s recommendations regarding the Coronavirus related to childcare programs and schools. Experts from the MDH will begin hosting weekly calls/webinars on Wednesdays regarding the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and answering questions; held specifically for Public Health Nurses that work with childcares and schools that we will be participating in.
Currently, there are some basic recommendations to take which are the same precautions recommended for avoiding colds and flu such as:
- Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth.
- Wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water for a minimum of 20 seconds.
- Stay home when you are sick.
- Cover your cough.
- Get a flu vaccination.
Please monitor children and teach them to use these techniques as well!
There are many questions circulating about coronavirus (COVID-19) and childcare/schools. A few of the resources we encourage you to take advantage of are:
MDH Coronavirus for Schools Website
CDC Interim Guidance for Schools
In addition to the above information, MN Child Care Health Consultants has attached a sample letter to guide you in your communication with families on page 4.
Please also start planning for what your communication plan would be to keep families informed if the virus does spread locally, including all that are applicable: your program website, mass emails and voicemails, as well as social media. We are hopeful that none of this will be needed, but it’s necessary to plan ahead and be not only in a prevention stage, but also a preparedness stage.
We also recommend practicing these steps to reduce illness transmission:
- Everyone needs to wash their hands thoroughly with soap and water for a minimum of 20 seconds.
- Wash often. All the times you normally would and even more!
- Ask parents to wash their children’s hands when they drop off for the day and when they pick up.
- Monitor and help children with handwashing so it’s done properly.
- Stay home when sick!
- Cover your cough.
- Get a flu vaccination.
- Be diligent about properly sanitizing and disinfecting. Don’t forget surfaces that are constantly touched such as door handles.
***********************Sample Letter*********************
Dear Child Care Families and Staff,
With recent news about the potential impact of the Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) in the United States, we wanted to reassure our parents/guardians and the school community that we are following information provided by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) to actively monitor information and update procedures. We are also working on a communication plan to keep you informed if the virus does spread locally.
As a reminder, there are critical means to educate our children regarding steps to prevent illness transmission. Keeping children healthy and safe is our priority and we recommend these simple steps from the Center for Disease Control (CDC) guidelines for preventing the spread of germs and illness:
– Please keep children who are sick at home. The CDC recommends that those who are ill should stay home for at least 24 hours after fever is gone (without the use of a fever-reducing medicine.) This is also a MN child care licensing rule.
– Wash hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds.
– Avoid touching eyes, nose and mouth.
– Cover coughs and sneezes with tissues or by coughing into the inside of the elbow.
Thank you for your continued support to our program. Children’s safety is always our first priority.
***********************Sample Letter*********************