Guidelines for the Reopening of Nurseries, Daycares & Pre-Schools

MINISTRY OF HEALTH
CENTRAL BOARD OF HEALTH
Guidelines for the Reopening of Nurseries,
Daycares & Pre-Schools

General Guidelines

All Daycares and Preschools MUST be inspected and approved by Central
Board of Health and the Early Childhood Development Unit before they
can re-open.
Employees MUST NOT report to work if they have symptoms of COVID19, including fever, respiratory symptoms such as cough, shortness of
breath or loss of the sense of taste/smell. If in doubt call the COVID
Hotline at 462-6843
If an employee is sick send them home immediately. Clean and disinfect
surfaces in their work place. Others at the facility with close contact (i.e.
within 6ft) of the employee during this time is considered exposed.
Staff and parents of students must inform the Principal/Owner about
illness.
Instruct employees who are well, but know they have been exposed to
COVID-19 to notify the Principal/Owner.
Employees and students absent from work/school due to suspected
COVID-19, MUST NOT return unless cleared by a Medical Practitioner.
Inform fellow employees of their possible exposure to COVID-19 in the
work place, if an employee is confirmed to have COVID-19, while
maintaining confidentiality.
Implement workplace control to reduce transmission among employees.
Workers and students with a cough, runny nose, jaundice, diarrhea,
vomiting, should not be permitted at work or attend school.
Identify an isolation room/sickbay to holding sick students until their
parents arrive. Parents must be called immediately to collect their child
as soon as possible.
Isolate sick persons (teachers, staff and students) who may become ill
while at the institution.
The school must use a touch less infrared thermometer to check the
temperature of their employees and children each day before they enter.
Any staff or child who has a temperature of 99°F and above, should not
be allowed to enter until they have no fever and no evidence of COVID-19
symptoms. *Follow guidelines on Taking Temperature.
All persons on the school compound are required to wear a face mask in
compliance with the regulations. The face mask must cover your nose
and mouth.
Each school is required to inform the parents about the measures the
school is putting in place to allow for students to re-enter the premises
for classes.
Each school is required to explain to the parents the importance and
reasons for school-related measures being implemented.
Each school is required to reinforce the need for strict compliance with
the guidelines for the return to school.
Each school is required to take any appropriate action to protect the
interest of staff and students by persons who are found to be in any
breach of the protocol while on the school compound.
If meals are prepare at the school, all Food Handlers MUST have a valid
Food Handlers Badge issued by the Central Board of Health.
All guidelines pertaining to Food Safety MUST be followed. *Obtain a
copy of the guidelines pertaining to Food Service Establishments.
Delivery personnel should wash their hands before entering.
There must be a backup supply of potable water in the event APUA water
is unavailable or turned off. There should be a pump and a pressure
tank attached.
There must be a residual chlorine available (both APUA and private
source).
Parents must adhere to physical distancing while picking up and
dropping off their child or children. Parents must be wearing their
facemask.
Parents must cooperate, respect and be patient with Centre Management
and staff as safety measures are implemented.
General visitors to the centres are discouraged. However, where there
are exceptions, their query should be made directly to the Centre
Administration. All visitors who do not have urgent concerns should be
encouraged to call or email the Centre.
The names of all persons who visit the compound should be recorded, as
well as the date/time of their visit.
Each School is advised to implement a school absenteeism monitoring
system to track both students and staff, or to alert the Ministry of Health
of any significant increases in absenteeism due to respiratory illnesses
(cough, colds, fever, difficulty breathing).
A register must be kept of all staff and children at facility; this will
include their names, addresses and phone number.
No visitor should be allowed to visit location in the centre where children
are usually expected to occupy.
All Staff are encouraged to provide emotional support at the first sign or
report of distress.
Until further notice, all field trips are suspended until authorised by the
Ministry of Health and Ministry of Education.
Persons in need of psychosocial support should be directed to contact
the Psychosocial Hotline for Tele counselling at 464-7421.

CLEANING OF THE WORKPLACE, WORK EQUIPMENT & FACILITIES

The Custodians must thoroughly clean and disinfect all rooms, floor,
walls, corridors, railings and other areas of the school to be used by staff
and students prior to return of the of persons to the environment.
Custodians must properly clean and disinfect desks, chairs, stools, work
stations, tools, equipment, classrooms, playrooms, toys, door knobs,
light switches, cots, diaper changing tables, and facilities prior to reopening and use by staff and students.
Clean and disinfect bathroom facility after use and when visibly soiled.
Focus should be placed on the toilet bowl, the toilet handle, the faucet,
the faucet handle and the door handle.
The toilet paper and the paper towel MUST be mounted.
A cleaning schedule MUST be posted in all bathrooms.
Custodians must be provided with adequate supplies of cleaning
disinfecting agents. These must be approved products.
Custodians must be provided with the necessary training and the proper
use of personal protective equipment to carry out cleaning and
disinfection task.
Remove all soft toys from the centre and thoroughly clean and disinfect
the toys after use. Discourage the sharing of toys between students.

HYGIENE AND SAFETY PRECAUTIONS

Custodian staff must clean and disinfect desk, chairs, workstations,
equipment and facility on a daily basis.
Custodian staff must be provided with adequate supply of Personal
Protective Equipment (PPE).
A daily record of the cleaning regime of critical areas outlining Where to
clean, What to clean, When to clean and Who should do the cleaning,
should be displayed for check and scrutiny by a Public Health Inspector
and daily by the Principal. Areas such as the bathrooms and classrooms.
The times of such cleaning operation should also be inserted.
Custodian staff must undertake daily and frequent (every 2 hours)
cleaning of high touched/high traffic areas.
Staff must desist from sharing common office supplies (e.g. pens,
staplers)
Custodians must wear disposable gloves to clean and disinfect.
Custodians must clean surfaces using soap and water, then disinfectant.
Use disinfectant approved to work against bacteria, fungus and virus
(some may be certified to work against coronavirus).
Diluted bleach solution can also be used if appropriate for the surface.
Facilities for hand hygiene should be available in each classroom at the
entrance door. A Hand Washing Station should be erected and equipped
with Potable running water, Liquid Hand Soap to facilitate hand washing
and a sufficient supply of paper towel for drying hands with a foot
operated bin in which to dispose of already used napkin.

VENTILATION

All work space and classrooms must be properly ventilated
Keep all doors and windows open whenever possible

PERSONAL HYGIENE & PROTECTION

All persons on the school compound must wear face masks at all times.
Face masks should not be reused and must be carefully handled and
removed to avoid self contamination.
Posters demonstrating how to safely wear and remove face mask should
be strategically displayed around the school building.
Hand washing stations must be placed at the entrance of the school, in
adequate amount to prevent to prevent congestion upon arrival.
Staff and students must wash their hands using liquid soap and running
water, for at least 20 seconds, especially upon arrival at the school and
more so after using the bathroom, blowing their nose/coughing/sneezing, and before eating.
All staff and students must practice frequent hand washing. Signage(s)
demonstrating the correct ways how to wash hands should be placed
above the station in this area.
Students should be given clear instructions to avoid touching hands to
face.
It is recommended that parents should give their child/ children a
sample sized bottle with 70% Alcohol based sanitizing solution for
personal use.
Staff and students must avoid as far as possible, contact with objects or
surfaces used or touched by others (e.g. door handles and knobs) and
must wash their hands after contact with such surfaces or objects.
Disinfect apparatus and learning materials used by teachers/students or
other persons as appropriate or as needed.

DAILY ROUTINE BEFORE SCHOOL

All staff and students are required to maintain good hand and
respiratory hygiene before, during and after travel between school and
home.

ON ARRIVAL AT SCHOOL
Teacher should carefully observe the student upon arrival and during the
class time to identify signs of illness.
When parents observe their child or children looking unwell do not bring
then to school instead take them to the Doctor.
Strictly enforce the wearing of a clean face mask for all persons entering
the school.
Enforce the hand hygiene protocol at the point of entry (i.e. staff and
students must wash their hands on entry to the school).
Ensure that temperature is taken at the entry point and assess for other
signs and symptoms.
Limit the number of persons entering the compound-people who are not
directly involved with the school’s activities should not be allowed entry.
Keep a register of daily attendance and note any illness of a student or
staff.
Inform all staff and students about the school’s hygiene and safety
policies before they enter the premises. Signage to this effect may be
strategically posted.
Implement measures to avoid congestion at the entrance/exit of the
school.
Floor markers can be placed for persons picking up and dropping off of
children.
Ensure the enforcement of physical distancing by using aids such as
floor markers, ribbons or physical barriers
Restrict the number of entry points into the school to control the flow
and number of persons within the school yard. Note, All School
compound should be fenced.
Footwear must be removed upon entering the centre. They may choose
to wear socks or indoor shoes thereafter. The shoes must be of a material
that is easy to wash and sanitize.
Designate separate entrance and exit routes to avoid unnecessary
bundling up of people and to enable the practice of social distancing.

DURING SCHOOL

Children should be restricted to individual small classes. The small
classes is aimed to limit any potential spread and allow for easy contact
tracing and remediation.

Once placed in a class, children and the caregiver must stay within that
class.
Downtime and mealtime should be conducted in the specified groups.
The class should not be mixed.
Avoid assigning group work to students to ensure compliance with the
social distancing policy.
Each caregiver or teacher should strictly adhere to the staff to child ratio:
Birth to 1 year: 1:3
1-2 years: 1:6
2-3 years: 1:8
3-5 years: 1:10
Square footage per child:
Birth to 2 years 40 square feet
2-3 years 30 square feet
3-5 years 25 square feet
The classrooms must be of adequate size to achieve physical distancing
and the ratio assigned. This will be observed during inspection.
Provide a designated area for storing personal belongings separately.
Such as lunch bags, bottles etc in assigned cubicle.
Space desks to accommodate physical distancing at least 6ft apart
Keep open, where feasible, all doors to classrooms and other areas
occupied by staff and students.
Ensure that students do not congregate while at school.
Strictly enforce physical distancing of 6ft apart at all time for everyone on
the compound during school.
Plan activities and lessons with the physical distancing protocols as
prerequisites to the plan for a designated group of children and ensure
those children remain separated from other children throughout the day.
They will perform all activities in this group to allow for easy contact
tracing if the need arises.
Ensure the wearing of facemask at all times while in the classroom or
outside on the compound.
Ensure regular cleaning and disinfection of desks, chairs and the general
classroom, must be done before and after use.
Limit or prevent the mixing of classes while waiting to be collected.
Restrict/limit the switching of groups or teachers. If possible, utilize the
same teacher for the duration of their instructional sessions.
Implement measures to control the movement of students into and out of
the classroom and the school.
Discourage/prohibit the sharing of resources such as crayons, artwork
etc.
Disinfect all desks and chairs used by students and teachers prior to the
start of classes and at the end of classes.
Provide foot operated garbage containers in all classrooms and around
the institution.
Garbage bins should be outfitted with disposable liner bags in each
classroom, staffroom or speciality room.
Ensure that garbage liners are removed and disposed of daily and bins
are washed at least twice a week.

Discourage outdoor play. Remove outdoor play from daily activity, that is
NO RECESS.

Ensure that the physical distancing protocols are observed in the
classroom, at meal time and any other time when the children have to
gather.

Reinforce good hygienic practices throughout the day. Teachers should
always remind students of the COVID- 19 protocols by having short
demonstrations in class.
Focus on good health behaviour, such as covering coughs and sneezes
with the elbow and washing hands frequently.
Encourage children to sing while washing hands to practice the
recommended 20 seconds duration.
Consider using puppets or dolls to demonstrate symptoms (sneeze,
coughing, fever) and what to do if they feel sick (i.e. their head hurts,
their stomach hurts, they feel hot or extra tied).
Have children sit apart for each other; have them practise stretching
their arms out; they should keep enough space to not touch their friends

Specific to the Nursery.

Clean clothes must be worn to work each day.
Staff members should wear an apron or smock which should be cleaned
or changed between major activities, or when soiled (major activities
include between feeds, cleaning the environment).
Smocks and aprons should be laundered according to the fabric
recommendation.
When babies/infants are received by the Care giver, their clothing must
be changed before placing him/her in their personal crib/cot.
Each baby must he held in a clean blanket.
There must be no sharing of blanket, rags, bibs, or any other personal
item.
Changing tables must be disinfected after each child is changed. Hands
must be washed and not sanitized after changing a diaper.
Used bottles must be washed and sanitized immediately after use.
Facemask and face shield must be worn by caregivers or teachers during
activities which involves caregivers or teachers to be within 3 feet or less
of a child for long period of time, for example, when feeding, bathing or
changing diapers.
All soft toys must be removed from the centre.
No toys from home are allowed in the centre.
Ensure that all cribs/cots are placed six feet apart
Assign a crib/cot to each child. This crib/cot should not be used or
shared by any other child while the child is still registered with the
centre.
If nap time is done on the floor, all mats should be placed a minimum of
3 feet apart.
Children should be placed to sleep alternately head to toe
Sanitize objects and surfaces that are frequently touched during the day.
All cribs must be cleaned & disinfected before and at the end of each day.
Nurseries must have a working contact number for all parents and
guardians.