Managing COVID in early childhood education and care services
Early childhood education and care (ECEC) services in the ACT are encouraged to adopt COVID Smart measures.
Staff, families and visitors are reminded to:
- Stay home if you’re unwell and get tested for COVID-19
- Practise good hand and respiratory hygiene.
Individual services may implement additional measures to manage COVID-19 as deemed necessary in their setting.
Some strategies could include:
- Ensuring indoor spaces are well ventilated.
- Having hand sanitizer available throughout the ECEC service.
- Maximising time spent in outdoor spaces.
- Ensuring masks are available for those who wish to wear them.
- Ensuring family contact details are up to date, so they can be contacted promptly if a child is unwell.
- Encouraging staff to keep up to date with vaccinations. Noting that vaccination for staff in ECEC services is no longer mandatory.
- Encouraging vaccination for children aged 5 to 11 years.
ECEC providers and services should have a COVID-19 policy to outline strategies used to mitigate risks within their service. This information should be communicated to parents and carers.
If a child tests positive to COVID-19
If a staff member or child tests positive to COVID-19, the ECEC service should communicate this to the service community.
Staff and children with COVID-19 symptoms should get tested and should not attend the ECEC service if they are unwell.
While there are no isolation requirements, staff or children who test positive to COVID-19 should not return to the ECEC service while symptomatic.
ECEC services do not need to report positive COVID-19 cases to Children’s Education and Care Assurance (CECA) unless a child requires hospitalisation.
If a child contracts COVID-19 and requires hospitalisation, this should be notified on NQA ITS as a risk to health and safety under Regulation 175(2)(c).
ECEC services should notify CECA via NQA ITS if they need to close a room or the ECEC service due to staff shortages under Regulation 175(2)(a).
For more information
More information about COVID-19 can be found at: Home - COVID-19 (act.gov.au)