Earlier this month, a child from the Casa Loma Child Care Centre tested positive for COVID-19 from an off-campus exposure. In total, two children at the Casa Loma Child Care Centre tested positive at separate locations, along with two other staff members at the Queen Street Day Care Centre and Richmond Adelaide Childcare Centre.
“When a family member communicates with the centre that a child or a family is tested positive, we call Toronto Public Health and follow their guidance to report the case,” said Patricia Chorney Rubin, the director of community services and early childhood. “They take the information and follow up with the family, and we communicate this information with all the other families in the room.”
According to Rubin, all public health measures set by the government were followed and communicated with the children and their parents. Furthermore, the health and safety and health and wellness departments at the college were informed, and the case was reported to the Ministry of Education.
Even though the childcare centre is near campus, GBC vice-president Chris McGrath said through an email shared with students that the risk to students is low.
“The risk to others on campus is low, as the child care centre has a separate entrance/exit,” wrote McGrath. “The staff and families do not access other campus spaces.”
But in many of George Brown’s child care centres, children are split into infant, toddler and preschool rooms by age groups. Moreover, children in their own cohort do not interact with all of the children within the centre. For example, a child in the ‘infant’ group will only interact with other children in the ‘infant’ group, and less frequently communicate with children in the ‘toddler’ and ‘preschool’ rooms.
Therefore, when a child is tested positive for the virus, only the room related to the child’s age group is closed.
“When the room is dismissed, we will communicate that to the facilities, and the facilities team will assist with an enhanced cleaning of surfaces,” said Rubin.
The room will be closed for a period directed by the municipal public health department, and the duration depends on the child’s symptoms and incubation period. Usually, the room the child was in will be closed for around two weeks. And other staff or students who were in the child’s class will be asked to quarantine for around the same period of time.
However, the rest of the child care centre remains open, which means that the staff will need to take extra precautions. Within the college, disposable 3-layer masks were made available at the entrance. But the use of PPE equipment differs within the child care centre.
“Children in child care are not required to wear any PPE,” said Rubin. “But the staff in our rooms wear face masks, and shields or goggles. Staff in our centre wear scrubs, but that’s not a requirement in the sector.”
Since the implementation of scrubs was a result of the pandemic, Rubin says that the health and safety of children are always prioritized by following the safety protocols. The safety of the family is always in the back of the staff’s minds, according to Rubin.
“Our first concern is: ‘How is the child and the family doing?’” says Rubin. “Our first concern is whether the children and the family are recovering well.”
Rubin says that there has been no severity in either child who tested positive.
“With the cases that happened in our system, children have had very mild symptoms,” says Rubin.
