Daycare centres allowed to operate, must ensure social distancing

CORONAVIRUS | Daycare centres are among the businesses that will be allowed to operate beginning May 4 with strict rules in place, including social distancing for children and conducting two disinfections daily.

According to the guidelines issued by the National Security Council (NSC), all staff must wear masks, and anyone entering daycare centres must have their temperatures recorded.

Anyone with a temperature of 37.5 degrees celsius and above will not be allowed on the premises.

All staff must also be trained in hygiene and safety. Daycare operators must also supply hand sanitiser on the premises.

“(Operators) must ensure best practices in terms of social distancing and place one-metre markers on the floor, especially in dining and sleeping areas,” said the NSC.

All parents and staff must fill-in a form to declare the state of their health before the daycare centre is allowed to operate.

Daycare centres are also instructed to inform parents that they must bathe their children before sending them to the centre and avoid direct contact with the elderly.

Upon detecting any staff with Covid-19 symptoms, daycare operators must remove the affected person from the premises.

In the event a Covid-19 infection is confirmed, the daycare centre must be closed immediately and the nearest health department informed before conducting disinfection works.

Meanwhile, the NSC also issued guidelines for schools although these premises will not be allowed to open on May 4.

The guidelines suggested that only students sitting for SPM, SVM, STPM and STAM examinations would be allowed back to school in the near future while school hours will be limited to 7am until 2pm.

When schools are reopened, schools must ensure social distancing of at least one metre, that the temperature of all staff and students are recorded, while mandating the use of hand sanitisers or frequent hand washing.

In an earlier broadcast address, Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin called on companies to allow working parents to continue to work from home or work on alternate days from the office, as well as to employ staggered working hours, in cases where parents cannot send their children to daycare.

This, too, would help ease the burden placed on daycare centres to cope with the large number of children under their care and allow them to better follow SOPs set by the government and social distancing. - Mkini