Whatcom schools have been closed for coronavirus. Why are child care centers open?
As the global pandemic caused by COVID-19 reshapes life in Washington state and Whatcom County — temporarily closing schools, restaurants, gyms and other places where people gather and asking people to work remotely — one concern has been what to do with children whose parents can’t work from home.
How are child care providers and after-school organizations handling the swift and sharp shifts in daily life as Gov. Jay Inslee closed those facilities statewide to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus?
Such practices are known as social distancing, asking people to stay home as much as possible or keep at least six feet between themselves and others if they can’t.
Melissa Morin, spokeswoman for the Whatcom County Health Department, and representatives in the child care industry answered some of those questions for The Bellingham Herald, with the usual caveat of this is what’s known now in an ever-evolving situation.
Why are child care centers open when K-12 schools in the state and Whatcom County have been ordered to close through April 24?
Morin: “Child care and early learning serve a vitally important function in allowing parents to continue working, which has significant public health and social benefits. Parents still need to work, and children need safe and enriching spaces to spend their days.
“The available evidence from the COVID-19 outbreak has shown that the risk of serious illness to young children is low. Closing schools is a strategy utilized to protect everyone in our community, including older adults and health care workers who may have contact with school-age youth,” she said.
“Compared to schools, child care settings may have lower risks for exposure and spread of COVID-19 because there are typically fewer children in close proximity. They also have stricter requirements for cleaning than schools,” Morin said.
But that doesn’t mean...
“Despite lower risk of serious illness among most children, children with COVID-19-like symptoms should not attend child care or participate in social activities,” Morin said, “and they should avoid contact with others who might be at higher risk, such as older adults and adults with serious chronic medical conditions.
She added: “There are no easy answers, and this situation is without precedent. We are weighing each decision very carefully in terms of the potential impact on controlling spread of infection and the social and economic costs to our community.”
What about camps for kids?
Morin: “We are working to interpret the new mandates from the governor as they relate to facilities and organizations who are providing camps or other activities for kids while schools are closed. Again, we know that many families are in need of child care, and we’re grateful for the ways that schools, community members and organizations are working together to meet this need.
“These are unprecedented steps, and our community is working hard to rise to the challenge,” she said.
“Thus far, we’ve been consulting with community organizations that have organized camps and other activities for kids while schools are closed. We’re working with them so that they can offer safe supervision of kids while still taking measures to prevent the spread of infection,” Morin said.
“But I’ll stress again that this is a currently evolving situation, and we are actively working to clarify our guidance in light of the governor’s announcements last night (Sunday, March 15) and this morning (Monday, March 16),” she added.
How has the health department helped child care businesses navigate social distancing behavior meant to help slow the spread of the coronavirus?
Morin said that some of the guidance provided by public health officials include:
▪ Stagger drop-off and pick-up times or assign times to avoid congregating.
▪ Have a greeter at the door to avoid having parents enter the building. Check symptoms. Have staff bring in children.
▪ Continue hand-washing practices.
▪ Choose activities that allow for the most social distancing — greater than three feet to six feet.
▪ Allow more outdoor activities.
▪ Ban family-style meals and food sharing.
▪ Ensure social distancing at tables.
What advice can you give to neighbors who want to share child care responsibilities?
The Whatcom County Health Department, in a release, said to:
▪ Limit the number of families to help reduce the spread of illness among those involved.
▪ Keep the size of the group to a maximum of 10 children in one indoor setting. “The smaller the group, the lower the risk,” the department said.
▪ Ask families to take their children’s temperature before getting together.
▪ Remind adults and children to stay home if they have a fever — a temperature above 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit — coughing, or shortness of breath, or are otherwise feeling sick.
▪ Clean high-touch surfaces such as doorknobs, toys and keyboards often.
Is the government attempting to quickly open centers or spaces where children can be cared for to help parents who unexpectedly have to deal with this issue?
Morin: “Yes. A branch of our Unified Command structure is working to find ways to increase capacity for child care and safe supervision of kids, while still implementing social-distancing measures to limit the spread of infection in those settings.
“We know that many organizations are coordinating this effort, and working especially hard to identify health care workers and first responders who are in need of child care. While we don’t have a system in place at this time, government agencies and community partners across our community are working right now on this high priority.”
What’s happening on the ground?
The nonprofit Boys and Girls Clubs of Whatcom County offers child care through its newly acquired Kids’ World and also runs before- and after-school programs at its clubhouses.
It has temporarily closed its clubhouses in Blaine and Lynden because they share the buildings with community members who are in the high-risk category for COVID-19 illness, according to Heather Powell, CEO of Boys and Girls Clubs of Whatcom County.
Its clubhouses in Ferndale and Bellingham remain open but the number of kids being served, and even the age ranges, are different.
Instead of serving children in first grade through high school, the focus has narrowed to kids who are in kindergarten to fifth grade — “those who shouldn’t be staying alone,” Powell said.
As for the number of kids being served, on Monday, March 16, the first day that school closures took effect in Bellingham, the number of kids dropped from a high of 70 down to 10, according to Powell.
And the clubhouse is only serving the children of critical care providers — the people who have to go to work in order to keep the city and county safe, Powell said, adding that its clubhouses were allowed to remain open because they were providing an essential service.
“We are not operating business as usual in the clubhouse, just due to social distancing and recommendations,” she said.
As for child care, its four Kids’ World campuses are licensed for about 130 children each.
Each center is currently serving about 30 kids because of social distancing requirements, according to Powell.
If parents can keep their children at home, they are being told to do so, she said, adding that parents were taking social distancing seriously.
Powell said the nonprofit also was trying to get additional clarity about what constituted essential services for its programs. Could that include homeless youths? Could it extend beyond doctors and nurses to mean someone whose children need care because they do the laundry for the hospital — “trying to cast that net as wide as possible while being safe,” Powell said.
Who can I call if I need child care?
On Friday, March 13, when Inslee announced the temporary closure of all K-12 public and private schools in Washington state, the nonprofit Child Care Aware of Washington’s call volume increased by 200%, according to spokeswoman Marcia Jacobs.
“We are helping parents who must work away from home during this time, like medical professionals and first responders, find safe child care,” Jacobs said.
The nonprofit is working to connect people who need child care to the licensed providers that have space because there are parents who can work from home and don’t need child care at this time, Jacobs explained.
“We’re doing some mixing and matching in that way,” Jacobs said.
Child care referrals are free.
The organization also can help connect families to sources of financial assistance for child care that they may be eligible for, Jacobs said.
Search for child care by going to the organization’s website at childcareawarewa.org and selecting the Family Center.
Or call the center toll free at 800-446-1114 from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. The center says it can provide help in any language.
About coronavirus
COVID-19, which stands for coronavirus disease 2019, is the name of the illness that first appeared in late 2019 in Wuhan, China, before spreading to other countries, including the U.S. It is caused by a virus named SARS-CoV-2.
The contagious disease is spread through contact between people within six feet of each other — what’s referred to as close contact — especially through coughing and sneezing that expels respiratory droplets that land in the mouths or noses of people nearby.
The CDC says it’s possible to catch COVID-19 by touching something that has the virus on it, and then touching your own face, “but this is not thought to be the main way the virus spreads.”
Symptoms — cough, fever, difficulty breathing — may occur two days to two weeks after exposure. Although most of the cases have been mild, the disease is especially dangerous for the elderly and others with weaker immune systems.
Stay informed
▪ https://whatcomcounty.us/ncov. Email general questions about COVID-19 in Whatcom County to covid@co.whatcom.wa.us.
▪ doh.wa.gov/Emergencies/Coronavirus. Call a hotline at 1-800-525-0127 for questions about what is happening in Washington state, how the virus spreads, and what to do if you have symptoms. Phone lines are staffed 6 a.m. to 10 p.m, seven days a week.
▪ cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html.
▪ cob.org/services/safety/emergencies/Pages/covid-19.aspx
▪ https://www.lummi-nsn.gov/Website.php?PageID=215
This story was originally published March 17, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
