Many families will be asking their primary care provider for advice on whether their child should return to school and/or daycare in-person. Providers can counsel families that there is no one right answer to this question and can discuss with families their individual needs including how their child did with online learning, whether their child needs more socialization, how much risk a family is willing to take on, who lives at home and who may be at higher risk from COVID-19 infection, and what infection control measures (PDF) a daycare and/or school are taking. Providers can remind families that children should be up-to-date on all immunizations before returning back to daycare or school. Make sure your daycare and/or school is adhering to strict immunization requirements for all children.
Providers can recommend that families review the daycare and/or school reopening plans on the websites and look for the response of the daycare and/or school to the pandemic, including:
- What are their cleaning plans?
- How many children will be assigned to each provider or classroom?
- Will there be room for some social distancing?
- Will adults/parents be kept out of the facility as much as possible to limit exposure?
- What is the plan if a child, provider or family member tests positive for COVID-19?
- Will there be contact tracing?
Providers can refer families to guidance published by the local health departments and the CDC. In addition, providers should advise families to think through contingency plans for intermittent daycare and/or school closures, which many people predict may happen if clusters of infections arise locally.