As of 24 February 2022 the Government set out their new plans for ‘Living with Covid-19’. This includes the following:
- removal of the guidance for staff to undertake twice weekly asymptomatic testing
- removal of the requirement to self-isolate following a positive Covid-19 test
- removal of the legal requirement for those not fully-vaccinated to self-isolate
- no longer asking fully vaccinated close contacts and those aged under 18 to test daily for 7 days
- ending routine contact tracing
- ending self-isolation support payments
The government continues to recommend that if you test positive you should stay at home/avoid contact for at least five days and continue to isolate until you have received two negative tests on consecutive days.
What are the pre-school continuing to do to ensure the environment is safe?
We are taking every precaution to ensure a safe environment for your children. In line with this we continue to:
- Follow a strict hand hygiene regime with handwashing of children upon entry, before snack/lunchtime, after messy activities and after blowing noses.
- Maintaining a strict cleaning regime to include:
- Wiping touch surfaces regularly throughout the day with anti-bacterial spray
- Ensuring toilet and handwashing areas are wiped down regularly throughout the day
- Daily cleaning of premises
- Promote and follow ‘Catch it, Kill it, Bin it’ to encourage good hand and respiratory hygiene.
- Maintain good ventilation and more heavy schedule towards outdoor activities (where weather allows).
- Monitor children for symptoms of Covid-19, check temperatures where necessary and, where required, arrange for children to be sent home.
What to do if your child is displaying symptoms of Covid-19?
If your child is unwell and displaying any of the below Covid-19 symptoms we recommend you follow the government guidance to test and keep your child off pre-school for at least 5 days, and continue to stay off pre-school until you receive two consecutive days of negative tests.
Please remember whilst there is no legal requirement there is a moral responsibility the pre-school community to ensure that we are keeping the children and staff safe. We encourage you to manage illness from Covid-19 as you would other infectious illnesses.
What are the Covid-19 symptoms?
Please see the following link for full details: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/symptoms/coronavirus-in-children/
The main symptoms of COVID-19 are:
- a high temperature
- a new, continuous cough – this means coughing a lot, for more than an hour, or 3 or more coughing episodes in 24 hours
- a loss or change to sense of smell or taste – this means they cannot smell or taste anything, or things smell or taste different to normal
What happens if I suspect my child has Covid-19 or they have received a positive Covid-19 test?
- Contact the pre-school via email/phone and notify us immediately
- Recommendation is to follow government guidance on isolation (see above)
Are there any instances where the pre-school would close due to Covid?
It is very unlikely we will need to close the pre-school due to Covid-19.
Closure may occur if we have multiple staff absent who have tested positive for Covid-19 and we are unable to find cover staff to maintain the legal ratios we require for staff to children. In the first instance we may need to reduce the number of children in session and this will be managed on a case by case basis.
Please do get in contact if you have any questions on the above information.