ECE administrators can offer modified job responsibilities for staff at higher risk for severe illness who have not been fully vaccinated while protecting individual privacy. Administrators should consider adaptations and alternatives to prevention strategies when serving people with disabilities , while maintaining efforts to protect all children and staff from COVID To help ensure the safety of students, families, and their communities, some ECE programs have requirements external icon for COVID vaccinations for staff.
Even so, many ECE programs will have a mixed population of both people who are fully vaccinated and people who are not fully vaccinated because ECE programs primarily serve children who are not yet eligible for a COVID vaccine. Therefore, ECE administrators will have to make decisions about the use of COVID prevention strategies in their programs to protect people who are not fully vaccinated.
Together with local public health officials, ECE administrators should consider multiple factors when they make decisions about using prevention strategies against COVID ECE programs typically serve their surrounding communities; therefore, decisions should be based on the program population, families and children served, as well as their communities. The primary factors to consider include:.
Using multiple or layered COVID prevention strategies remains critical to protect people, including children and ECE staff especially in areas of moderate-to-high community transmission levels.
Currently approved and authorized vaccines in the United States are highly effective at protecting vaccinated people against severe illness from COVID Fully vaccinated people are less likely to become infected and, if infected, less likely to develop symptoms of COVID They are at substantially reduced risk of severe illness and death from COVID compared with unvaccinated people.
Infections in fully vaccinated people happen in only a small proportion of people who are fully vaccinated, even with the Delta variant. When these infections occur among fully vaccinated people, they tend to be mild. However, evidence suggests that fully vaccinated people who do become infected with the Delta variant can spread the virus to others. ECE programs can promote vaccinations among staff and families, including pregnant women , by providing information about COVID vaccination, encouraging vaccine trust and confidence, and establishing supportive policies and practices that make getting vaccinated as easy and convenient as possible.
When promoting COVID vaccination, consider that certain communities and groups have been disproportionately affected by COVID illness and severe outcomes, and some communities might have experiences that affect their trust and confidence in the healthcare system.
Staff and families may differ in their level of vaccine confidence. ECE administrators can adjust their messages to the needs of their families and community and involve trusted community messengers as appropriate, including those on social media, to promote COVID vaccination among people who may be hesitant to receive it. When people wear a mask correctly and consistently, they protect others as well as themselves.
ECE program staff can model consistent and correct use for children aged 2 or older in their care. Consistent and correct mask use by all people, especially those who are not fully vaccinated, is especially important indoors and when physical distancing cannot be maintained. The following is a possible exception to the universal masking recommendation for everyone ages 2 and over in ECE settings:.
To facilitate learning and social and emotional development, consider having staff wear a clear mask or cloth mask with a clear panel when interacting with young children, children learning to read, or when interacting with people who rely on reading lips. Learn more here. ECE programs should provide masks to those children who need them including on buses and vans , such as children who forgot to bring their mask or whose families are unable to afford them.
When it is not possible to maintain physical distance in ECE settings, it is especially important to layer multiple prevention strategies, such as cohorting, masking indoors, improved ventilation, handwashing, covering coughs and sneezes, and regular cleaning to help reduce transmission risk.
Mask use is particularly important when physical distance cannot be maintained. A distance of at least 6 feet is recommended between adults who are not fully vaccinated.
For people who are fully vaccinated , maintaining physical distancing is not necessary unless required by federal, state, local, tribal, or territorial laws, rules, and regulations, including local business and workplace guidance.
Distancing should still be maintained, when possible, between individuals who are not fully vaccinated. Cohorting: Cohorting means keeping people together in a small group and having each group stay together throughout an entire day. Cohorting can be used to limit the number of children and staff who come in contact with each other, especially when it is challenging to maintain physical distancing, such as among young children, particularly in areas of moderate-to-high transmission levels.
The use of cohorting can limit the spread of COVID between cohorts but should not replace other prevention measures within each group. When determining how to ensure physical distance and size of cohorts, ECE programs should consider education loss and social and emotional well-being of children, and the needs of the families served when they cannot attend ECE programs in person.
Place children and ECE providers into distinct groups that stay together throughout the entire day. Screening testing identifies people with COVID, including those with or without symptoms who are likely to be contagious, so that measures can be taken to prevent further transmission. In ECE programs, screening testing can help promptly identify and isolate cases, quarantine those who may have been exposed to SARS-CoV-2 and are not fully vaccinated, and identify clusters to reduce the risk to in-person education.
People who are fully vaccinated do not need to participate in screening testing and do not need to quarantine unless they have symptoms or are a close contact to someone with COVID Decisions regarding screening testing may be made at the state or local level.
Screening testing may be most valuable in areas with substantial or high community transmission levels, in areas with low vaccination coverage, and in ECE programs where other prevention strategies are not implemented. More frequent testing can increase effectiveness, but feasibility of increased testing in ECE programs needs to be considered.
Screening testing should be done in a way that ensures the ability to maintain confidentiality of results and protect staff privacy. Screening testing can be used to help evaluate and adjust prevention strategies and provide additional layered prevention strategies and provide added protection for ECE programs that are not able to provide optimal physical distance between students.
Screening testing should be offered at any level of community transmission and, to all staff who have not been fully vaccinated to help interrupt transmission. ECE programs should offer screening testing at least once a week. Testing in low-prevalence settings might produce false positive results, but screening testing can be an important prevention strategy to limit the spread of COVID in in-person education settings.
Improving ventilation is an important COVID prevention strategy that can reduce the number of virus particles in the air. Along with other preventive strategies , including wearing a well-fitting, multi-layered mask, bringing fresh outdoor air into a building helps keep virus particles from concentrating inside.
This can be done by opening multiple doors and windows, using child-safe fans to increase the effectiveness of open windows, and making changes to the HVAC or air filtration systems. During transportation, open or crack windows in buses and other forms of transportation, if doing so does not pose a safety risk.
Keeping windows open a few inches improves air circulation. For more specific information about maintenance, use of ventilation equipment, actions to improve ventilation, and other ventilation considerations, refer to:.
Additional ventilation recommendations for different types of education buildings can be found in the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers ASHRAE schools and universities guidance document pdf icon external icon. People should practice handwashing and respiratory etiquette including covering coughs and sneezes to keep from getting and spreading infectious illnesses including COVID ECE programs can monitor and reinforce these behaviors and provide adequate handwashing supplies.
Children and staff who have symptoms of infectious illness, such as influenza flu or COVID , should stay home and be referred to a healthcare provider for testing and care. It also is essential for people who are not fully vaccinated to quarantine after a recent exposure to someone with COVID and get tested.
ECE programs should also allow flexible, non-punitive, and supportive paid sick leave policies and practices that encourage sick workers to stay home without fear of retaliation, loss of pay, or loss of employment.
Employers should ensure that workers are aware of and understand these policies. This is even more likely in young children, who typically have multiple viral illnesses each year. Encourage your families to be on the alert for signs of illness in their children and to keep them home when they are sick. People who have a fever of Take action pdf icon to isolate children or staff who begin to have COVID symptoms while at your facility to protect other children and staff.
Getting tested for COVID when symptoms are compatible with COVID will help with rapid contact tracing and prevent possible spread, especially if key prevention strategies of masking, distancing, and cohorting are not in use. ECE programs should continue to collaborate with state and local health departments, to the extent allowable by federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial privacy laws, regulations and other applicable laws, to confidentially provide information about people diagnosed with or exposed to COVID This allows identifying which children and staff with positive COVID test results should isolate , and which close contacts should quarantine , based on vaccination status and history of prior infection.
Children and staff who are infected with COVID should isolate at home for 10 days, regardless of whether they have symptoms. ECE programs should report, to the extent allowable by applicable federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial privacy laws and regulations, positive cases to their state or local health department as soon as they are informed. ECE administrators should notify, to the extent allowable by applicable federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial privacy laws and regulations, staff and families of children who were close contacts as soon as possible.
If feasible, contact close contacts within the same day of being notified that someone in the program has tested positive. The exception to the close contact definition for K schools typically does not apply to ECE programs. If ECE programs are in K indoor classroom settings or structured outdoor settings where mask use can be observed, extending the exception to younger ages may be appropriate.
Staff, families, and children who are not fully vaccinated and are determined to be a close contact of someone with COVID need to quarantine. If asymptomatic, fully vaccinated close contacts do not need to quarantine at home following an exposure. In addition to correctly wearing masks in the ECE program, they should wear a mask in other indoor public settings for 14 days or until they receive a negative test result. During times in the ECE day when children 2 years of age and older or staff members may typically remove masks indoors, such as during lunches and snacks, have a plan for them to adequately distance from other cohorts and ensure they wear their masks when not actively participating in these activities such as when they are not actively eating.
ECE programs should instruct families to monitor children who are determined to be a close contact for symptoms for 14 days following their exposure and have them quarantine.
ECE programs should educate staff and families about when they and their children should stay home and when they can return to ECE programs. In general, cleaning once a day is usually enough to sufficiently remove potential virus that may be on surfaces. However, in addition to cleaning for COVID, ECE programs should follow recommended procedures for cleaning, sanitizing, and disinfection in their setting such as after diapering, feeding, and exposure to bodily fluids.
See Caring for Our Children external icon. For general information on cleaning a facility regularly, when to clean more frequently or disinfect, cleaning a facility when someone is sick, safe storage of cleaning and disinfecting products, and considerations for protecting workers who clean facilities, see Cleaning and Disinfecting Your Facility. For more information on cleaning and disinfecting safely, see Cleaning and Disinfecting Your Facility. It is important for you to comfort crying, sad, or anxious infants and toddlers and they often need to be held.
A good source of vitamin C shall be served daily. These include citrus fruits, melons and other fruits and juices that contain at least 30 mg of vitamin C per serving. D Bread or bread alternative: An equivalent serving of cornbread, biscuits, rolls, muffins, bagels or tortillas made of enriched or whole grain meal or flour may be substituted for sliced bread. Bread alternatives include enriched rice, macaroni, noodles, pasta, stuffing, crackers, bread sticks, dumplings, pancakes, waffles and hot or cold cereal.
E Butter or margarine: As a spread for bread, if desired. Choose monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats olive oil, safflower oil and soft margarines; avoid trans fats, saturated fats and fried foods. F Beverages with added sweeteners, whether natural or artificial, shall not be provided to children. G Children shall be offered water to rinse their mouths after snacks and meals when tooth brushing is not possible.
Ice cream or milk-based pudding may be used occasionally. The main dish shall contain one or more of the following: cheese, eggs, legumes, or peanut butter. Hot dogs and raw carrots may be served to children between 2 and 3 years of age only if cut into short, thin strips. Peanut butter shall only be served to children between 2 and 3 years of age if thinly spread on bread, crackers, or other foods or if mixed with other foods. See Section Code Other unused food shall be promptly covered to avoid contamination, labeled, dated and refrigerated or frozen immediately.
Leftover fresh food shall be used within 24 hours. Frozen food shall be used within 30 days. These items shall be in good repair and free of breaks, cracks or chips. Disposable dishes and utensils may be used and shall be discarded after single use. Due to the danger of choking, disposable eating utensils shall not be used by children under 2 years of age.
Staff shall provide supportive help for as long as the child needs such help. Source: Amended at 38 Ill. Section Time Present Per Day Number of Meals and Snacks Per Day Two to five hours One snack Five to ten hours One meal and two snacks or two meals and one snack More than ten hours Two meals and two snacks or one meal and three snacks i Children shall be offered food at intervals of not less than 2 hours and not more than 3 hours apart, unless the child is asleep.
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