California Child Care Facilities See Spike In Coronavirus Cases

VENICE, CA — Child care facilities in California are reporting five times as many coronavirus cases this past week as they did in June.

Although the number of centers reporting is small, it is unclear what this will mean for parents and teachers, or whether the increased cases reflect the rise in cases across the state, EdSource reports.

Licensed care facilities had reported 202 cases of coronavirus to the department as of June 4, according to EdSource. This data did not include how many centers had reported those cases.

"By July 12, the total had gone up to 998," according to EdSource. "Close to a fifth of those cases were among children. About a third of the cases were among staff, and another third were among parents or other adults who pick up or drop off children at the child care center. The remaining cases were other family members of children, or people who lived with child care providers."

Child care facilities, including centers or programs at providers' homes, are required to report coronavirus cases to the California Department of Social Services Community Care Licensing Division, the agency that licenses facilities that serve infants, toddlers, preschoolers and children up to age 12.

Patch reached out to the California Department of Social Services Community Care Licensing Division for more information and updated reported case numbers for July.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention outlines what to do at child care facilities that have remained open during the pandemic in case someone becomes sick.

Health experts recommend that it's important to have a plan in case someone gets sick at a child care facility, including:

• Plan to have an isolation room or area (such as a cot in a corner of the classroom) that can be used to isolate a sick child. Additional information about isolation in related settings can be found here regarding isolation at home and isolation in health care settings.
• Be ready to follow CDC guidance on how to disinfect your building or facility if someone is sick.
• If a sick child has been isolated in your facility, clean and disinfect surfaces in your isolation room or area after the sick child has gone home.
• If COVID-19 is confirmed in a child or staff member:
  • Close off areas used by the person who is sick.
  • Open outside doors and windows to increase air circulation in the areas.
  • Wait up to 24 hours or as long as possible before you clean or disinfect to allow respiratory droplets to settle before cleaning and disinfecting.
  • Clean and disinfect all areas used by the person who is sick, such as offices, bathrooms, and common areas.
  • If more than seven days have passed since the person who is sick visited or used the facility, additional cleaning and disinfection is not necessary.
  • Continue routine cleaning and disinfection.

Full coronavirus coverage: Coronavirus In California: What To Know

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