In case of a resurgence of COVID-19 infections, we are leaving the previously required restrictions and modifications posted below:

COVID-19 Modifications and Practice

with specific interest and pertinence to parents:

What hygiene practices are implemented to limit the spread of COVID-19 in early care and education?

• All early care and education staff should wear a well-fitting mask or face covering while they are working

• Children 2 through 8 years old should use face coverings. Children with breathing problems should not wear a face covering.

• Proper fit and wearing of masks is important at Early Childhood Centers, as well as by all people in public places where 6' distancing is not implemented:

  • • First, wash your hands.

    • Put the mask on your face.

    • Put the loops behind your ears.

    • The mask must cover your nose, mouth, and fit snuggly under your chin.

    • The mask must be snug and gap-free at all edges.

    • Make sure breathing is easy.

    • Keep the mask on your face.

    • Keep your hands off the front of the mask.

    • Keep your hands off your face, off your nose, and off your mouth.

    • Touch only the loops or ties to adjust the fit

    • Use the loops or ties to take off the mask.

    • Fold the mask.

    • Put the mask directly in the laundry or into a baggie/container while transporting to the laundry

    • Wash your hands with soap and water.

• Do not remove another’s face mask, if at all possible. If it becomes necessary, wear gloves to protect yourself and then dispose of them according to glove hygiene.

• Incorporate thorough 20-second handwashing into daily site routines.

• Thorough 20-second handwashing should take place at the beginning of the day, before and after meals, after outside play, after using the restroom, before and after classroom activities that involve sharing supplies and materials, and after coughing, sneezing, and wiping/cleaning nose.

• Routinely clean and disinfect all frequently touched surfaces and objects, such as doorknobs, banisters, countertops, toys, faucet handles, physical education equipment and manipulatives, and phones. Please use cleaning products that meet EPA standards for infection control and follow the label directions.

• All personal items should be labeled and kept in a separate bag/compartment to ensure personal items are separate from others. During this time, personal toys should be kept at home until further notice.

Daily Pre-entry Health Screenings

• Instruct parents to screen their children and themselves before leaving home, including taking their child’s temperature. 100.4+ indicates a fever and cause for staying home. Any child or staff with symptoms consistent with COVID-19 should remain at home in isolation for a minimum of 10 days plus at least 3 days after the resolution of fever (without fever-reducing medication) and improvement in other symptoms.

• Start the day at your site with health screenings for all staff and children on arrival. The parent may serve as the active screener checking for and logging results while an ECE staff witnesses.

• If a staff member or child shows symptoms of COVID-19, they may not remain at the site.

  • Symptoms of COVID-19 may include some combination of fever, cough, shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, chills, repeated shaking with chills, muscle pain, headache, sore throat or new loss of taste or smell.

  • The first three symptoms listed are the most common signs of COVID-19 infection. The parent should be encouraged to contact the child’s teacher if the child does not have any of the first three symptoms but does have at least one symptom on the entire list.

  • Monitor staff and children throughout the day for any signs of possible illness.

  • If anyone develops a temperature of 100.4°F/38°C or higher they should be separated away from the classroom while waiting for a parent to arrive for pick up. When parents are notified of their child's illness/symptoms/fever, they need to respond promptly to pick up their child. A child or staff member who has symptoms/fever should leave the facility as soon as possible and not linger.

• Staff, children, parents/caregivers, and visitors should be reminded regularly that they should stay home if they are ill, even with mild symptoms.

What should an ECE site do if a child becomes sick?

• Remind parents to update their emergency contact information regularly so site staff can get in touch quickly if they need to. When a child does show signs of illness, they will need to be picked up immediately.

• Children who develop symptoms of illness after drop-off at an ECE site should be separated from others right away, preferably in a sick room through which others do not enter or pass. The child should remain in isolation until they are picked up.

• If possible, place a surgical mask on a child with fever and/or cough as soon as possible after moving them to the sick room.

• Due to their elevated risk, it is important to ensure that plans account for the needs of any child with special health care needs and the needs of staff who are over 65 and/or have chronic conditions. Staff who are pregnant should also be vigilant about avoiding infection. If at all possible, staff in any of these categories should be exempted from care of any child who shows signs of sickness.

What steps should an ECE site take if a child tests positive for COVID-19?

• Plan in advance. Have a contingency plan that outlines what the center/family child care will do if you have a positive case of COVID-19. Share the plan with staff, as well as parents/caregivers.

• Contact the Department of Public Health Acute Communicable Disease Program for guidance on steps you need to take to minimize risk for other children and staff. They can be reached (213)-240-7941 during daytime hours or (213) 974-1234 (After Hours Emergency Operator).

• Identify adults or children who may have had close contact of the ill individual for more than 10 minutes or those who may have had unprotected direct contact with body fluids or secretions of the ill individual starting from two days (48 hours) before symptoms appeared. Body fluids or secretions include saliva, sputum, nasal mucus, vomit, urine or diarrhea. These people should home-quarantine for 14 days from the date of the contact.

• If the site learns of a confirmed case of COVID-19 with potential exposure of staff or children contact the Department of Public Health for consultation and guidance before communicating with all staff and families.

• Note that while all parents/caregivers and staff should be informed of a confirmed case of COVID-19 in someone connected to the facility, it is not legal to share the name of the infected individual. It may not be hard for children or staff to guess who the person is, but that is different from an intentional release of private medical information about someone.

How should ECE providers and parents be talking to children about COVID-19?

• Remain calm. Be honest, but age-appropriate.

• Listen to them (reading between the lines for any hidden messages of fear, loneliness, depression answer their questions).

• Avoid blaming others for the outbreak or using language that can lead to stigma.

• Emphasize what we can do to stay healthy, including: frequent handwashing by teaching a popular child-friendly song or counting to 20 (handwashing should last 20 seconds); teaching children to sneeze and cough into a tissue OR, when no tissue is within reach, cough inside their elbow; implementing social (physical) distancing; and wearing a facial mask when out in public.

• Model and practice handwashing before and after eating, after coughing, sneezing, [after cleaning one’s nose], after playing outside, after using shared equipment and materials, and after using the restroom (teach children to use a tissue when touching the toilet handle for flushing.

• Model and practice wearing a mask in public and how to properly remove it and store it.

• Explain to children why it’s not healthy to share drinks or food, particularly when sick.

• Teach children to use a tissue on the handle when flushing the toilet.

Is del Sol considered an essential business/service? Yes.

"The Safer at Home Order for Control of COVID-19" requires closure of non-essential businesses throughout LA County to promote social (physical) distancing and reduce the spread of COVID-19. Early Care and Education (ECE) settings are considered essential services and are exempt from this closure order. . . Early care and education is a critical resource for people working to end the COVID-19 outbreak, to prevent spread, and to treat those who are ill. Essential workers in all sectors -- from hospital staff to first responders, to home care providers to grocery clerks -- depend on early care and education so they can go to work. " (from LACDPH Guidance for Early Childhood Providers, May 1, 2020)

Sources of the above excerpts on COVID-19 Health Modifications are found in the full government documents below. Continue to bottom of page where we list del Sol's additional COVID-19 health adaptations.

...............................................................................................

del Sol's

Additional Four Voluntary Implementations

to Lower the Risk of COVID-19 Spread On and Off Campus

1) We decided to locate our program OUTDOORS for the majority of the day, which is a safer environment compared to indoors due to the benefits that Nature provides, i.e., larger unwalled space, greater ventilation, and sunlight which inactivates SARS-CoV-2 on surfaces, making it a natural disinfectant for contaminated non-porous materials (as mentioned in the City of MA's Advisory: COVID-19 Update: Daily Situation Report (May 26, 2020):

"Science & Technology Directorate's National Biodefense Analysis and Countermeasures Center published a recent study titled Simulated Sunlight Rapidly Inactivates SARS-CoV-2 on Surfaces in the Journal of Infectious Diseases. SARS-CoV-2 is the coronavirus that causes COVID-19. This research provides the first evidence that sunlight inactivates SARS-CoV-2 on surfaces, suggesting that persistence, and subsequently exposure risk, may vary significantly between indoor and outdoor environments. Additionally, these data indicate that natural sunlight is effective as a disinfectant for contaminated non-porous materials." Visit dhs.gov to view the report.

2) Limiting our 21-22 enrollment to 15 and facilitated by our very experienced Lead Teacher & Director, Barbette Sharp with Sherri Hodges as her Aide (who has fulfilled all the state requirements for teacher status and has more than 15 yrs experiencing supporting Barbette and the children).

3) Limiting our 2021-22 enrollment to ages 3y 11m - 6 yrs whose developmental capabilities allow them to independently implement our list of COVID-19 Health Habits and Basic Life Skills with regular consistency.

4) For school year 2020-2021, three to four students will be assigned to each of our 4 toilets and sinks.

View our webpage titled COVID-19 Health Habits and Basic Life Skills for requirements for children and their families for entry into Summerfun '22 Outdoor, Nature-inspired, Friendship Camp and our upcoming 2022-23 school year.