‘Immediate risk’: nearly 150 childcare centres closed across Australia over Covid threat | Coronavirus


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Almost 150 childcare centres across the country have been closed under emergency measures because of an “immediate risk” to children posed by the Delta outbreak gripping the country.

The closures come as Labor calls for more federal government assistance to help the childcare sector get through the Covid-19 pandemic, saying families and centres are “shouldering the burden” and there is widespread risk of centres permanently shuttering.

There are also growing calls for the government to outline a timetable for vaccinating children as evidence mounts about their role in transmitting the virus, with almost 3,000 cases now recorded in Australia in children under the age of 10.

Information from the federal regulator – the Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority – shows that 146 childcare centres have closed temporarily “due to immediate risks to children caused by a public health emergency, such as a pandemic, and/or at the direction of their local health authority.”

The closed centres are predominantly in NSW, with almost 100 centres closed, including six in Dubbo, while 28 in Victoria and 19 in the ACT are also shut because of health concerns.

The federal Department of Education, Skills and Employment did not answer a series of questions about the outbreaks in childcare centres, saying only that a large proportion of closures were in response to a direct or suspected Covid risk.

On Wednesday, the NSW chief health officer, Dr Kerry Chant, said that transmission in childcare centres in the state was a concern, and she urged people to keep children at home unless “they absolutely need to” send them.

“[We’re] seeing outbreaks in childcare centres and that’s a feature we haven’t seen in previous outbreaks because the Delta strain seems to be able to transmit more in the childhood setting,” Chant said.

“I have been very clear that what we’re asking the community to do is to not send children to childcare unless they absolutely need to, and if they’re just working from home, that wouldn’t be, in my mind, a reason to do it. That is critical.”

Prof Alexandra Martiniuk, an epidemiologist at the University of Sydney, said the government should release more information about cases in childcare centres. She said parents needed to be able to assess the risk of sending their children to daycare.

“Parents currently feel that childcare and school is safe, and they need it, so they are sending their children,” Martiniuk said.

“We need transparency from government who have the data. It is only fair to families and parents and childcare centre staff and owners to be aware of the number of childcare centres currently closed due to exposure to a Covid case – so that people can understand the true choices they are making when they send their child to care, or attend work.”

She also said more needed to be known about transmission in childcare settings, with the environment likely ripe for contagion.

“It does strike me as quite a risky proposition to have a group of children in a room with the doors and windows closed with a group of workers and all kids who may not be vaccinated. That is not ideal. People are likely to get Covid if there is a Covid case in there. Delta is very contagious.”

On Wednesday, the prime minister, Scott Morrison, said the issue of child vaccination was an important one that the government was assessing.

The Therapeutic Goods Administration has already given provisional approval for Pfizer to be given to children aged 12 to 15, and the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation has recommended it for those in this age bracket with underlying medical conditions and for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders.

Morrison said Atagi was well advanced in its consideration for the vaccine for all children in this age group, while states and territories had discussed potential school-based vaccination programs.

“The work is already under way on how that could be done … and it’s not too far away is my understanding. But equally we’re talking about the vaccination of our kids and I want to be very sure about the medical advice we’re getting about that.”

Centres struggling

Labor’s childcare spokesperson, Amanda Rishworth, said the emergency closures came as the sector was also grappling with issues of viability as a result of lockdowns, with fee waivers for parents but no extra government assistance on offer for providers.

While the government has allowed childcare centres to waive gap payments for parents and still collect a childcare subsidy, it has not provided top-up payments as occurred in the prolonged Victorian outbreak last year.

Labor MP Amanda Rishworth has called for more government support for childcare centres during the pandemic
Labor MP Amanda Rishworth has called for more government support for childcare centres during the pandemic. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP

Rishworth said the government’s position meant there was “no certainty for families and no certainty for centres”.

“There seems to be real inertia from the government and I am worried that as a consequence of them not dealing with this sector as a unique sector then families are going to pay the price,” Rishworth told Guardian Australia.

Uniting Early Learning, which operates almost 60 centres in NSW and the ACT, sent a plea for help to families on Friday, saying it was losing an estimated $120,000 a week.

The organisation is urging families to lobby the federal education minister, Alan Tudge, and the NSW education minister, Sarah Mitchell, for extra assistance.

The federal government’s decision to waive the gap fee for children staying home during this period is a welcome relief for families,” the letter from the organisation’s head of early learning, Rod Nadwie-Smith, said.

“[But] without either the NSW or federal government providing this additional funding, our ability to keep our services open is under threat.”

Tudge’s office did not respond to questions from Guardian Australia about the concerns regarding viability raised by the sector and referred other questions to the department.


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