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Childcare providers want urgent advice on the transmission of Covid in the sector and clear rules on who can attend, saying they fear the centers may inadvertently contribute to the spread of the virus in the area. New South Wales.
The call came as hundreds of cases of Covid were reported in children across the state and 157 centers were closed nationwide because of the “immediate risk” to children arising from the health emergency. Ten more centers were closed on Thursday.
In New South Wales, Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr Kerry Chant has warned of transmission in child care centers and urged parents to keep children at home where possible.
However, NSW did not impose the same restriction as Victoria in its second wave last year, when parents were required to obtain permits to access child care by proving essential worker status.
The NSW Department of Education told Guardian Australia on Thursday that 129 of the 5,800 providers had reported positive cases of Covid since the start of the current epidemic, but had no information on transmission.
Early Learning and Care Council of Australia chief executive Elizabeth Death said the sector is calling for clear direction from the NSW government.
“Please talk to us, please set something up right, we are open to anything that will keep our families, children and staff safe,” Death said. “We’re concerned that inadvertently, when vendors don’t have a clear direction… we may be contributing to the problem, and we would like a clear direction as soon as possible. “
ELCCA represents around 30% of providers in the sector, including some of the largest in the country such as Goodstart, G8 Education, Guardian and Uniting.
A spokesperson for the NSW Education Department said his priority was “the health, safety and well-being of children”.
“The department works closely with the services and NSW Health to manage any ongoing risk to the health, safety and well-being of children and early years staff, ”they said.
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The call for more support to manage the potential spread of the virus in child care facilities came as the sector was reeling from the financial impact of extended shutdowns – prompting calls for additional funding from the government. government.
ELCCA estimated that its members were losing more than $ 2 million per week, with many claimants waiving fees for parents under a federal government program that allowed them to do so while still having access to the grant. for childcare.
Due to the financial pressure on the sector, many providers did not waive fees, forcing parents to continue paying for child care services they did not have access to in order to keep their place.
The federal education ministry was unable to say how many of the 7,000 providers allowed to waive fees under the government program, saying the decision was up to individual services and they were not. “not required to report if they waived the spread fee”.
The Parenthood lobby group will join the call for an “urgent federal response” to the sector on Friday, saying a financial survival program was needed to prevent the loss of child care services, spaces and services. of educator jobs.
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“The crisis in early learning unfolding in Sydney and Melbourne is an emergency that cannot continue without dire negative ramifications for educators, providers, children and families. The Prime Minister must recognize that this crisis must be corrected ”, declared the executive director of the group, Georgie Dent.
The group also called for “priority access” to vaccines for childcare workers.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Thursday the government would take any advice on immunization mandates for the childcare sector from the Australian Senior Health Protection Committee made up of chief health officers from all states and territories.
“They only recommended mandatory vaccinations in two areas, and that is for older social workers and for those working in quarantine,” he said. “Medical advice has not been to recommend or impose vaccinations in other areas for public health reasons.”
Morrison said that “one of the best ways to protect your children is to get yourself vaccinated,” citing advice from the Doherty Institute.
He made the comments as the government announced it had expanded access to the national immunization program for 16- to 39-year-olds and signaled the imminent approval of the vaccine to be given to children between the ages of 12 and 15.
But the government had yet to define its plans for young children.
“This plan will happen, will be very soon,” Morrison said. “We know how important this is, but it must be conditioned on the medical opinions that continue to be given on these matters.”
Labor shadow minister for early childhood education, Amanda Rishworth, said the government needs to set a plan for how the immunization program will protect children, especially given the high rates of transmission among young people which were apparent with the Delta variant.
“A lot of parents will want to know how to keep our children safe, and in particular to stop this transmission,” Rishworth said.
Of the 7,486 positive Covid cases recorded in people under the age of 19 in Australia, around 3,000 were under the age of nine.
The Sydney Children’s Hospital Network treated 700 children with the disease, almost all of whom could be cared for at home.
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Sources 2/ https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/aug/20/childcare-centres-urge-nsw-government-to-clarify-rules-during-delta-wave The mention sources can contact us to remove/changing this article |
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