Child care centres have seen an increase in COVID cases - but are dealing with them using measures they learnt in the depths of the pandemic.
And older methods - like believing in the therapeutic benefits of fresh air.
"Our centres make sure the children have access to the outdoors, even in winter," Cassia Vidigal, manager at Northside Community Service said.
"We still have the children going to the playground which is fenced and protected, and that helps raise immunity. And playing is good for mental health and learning."
Above all, keeping children outdoors reduces the risk of infection. Closed spaces increases it.
The five centres with their 290 or so children have strict measures in place to catch infections early and stop them spreading. "We do send children home if they are unwell," the manager said.
Those measures are:
- A 'Not OK? Take the day' campaign, encouraging staff to stay home if they felt unwell;
- More cleaning of officers and more use of disinfectant and hand sanitiser;
- Flexible work arrangements, including allowing staff to work from home where possible; and
- Free flu vaccinations to all staff.
Any sign of illness, stay at home, is the message at the centres, or "feeling low, let us know", as it's put on posters on the walls.
"These initiatives have been crucial in maintaining a safe and healthy environment for our staff and our clients," the manager said.
"We continue to monitor the situation closely and adapt our strategies as needed to ensure the wellbeing of everyone involved with Northside."
Unwell staff at the Teddybears Childcare Centre, too, are encouraged to stay home if they are unwell. If they have COVID, they can't return until they send a photograph of a negative test.
"If the educator is unwell, they message me and I tell them they should see a GP and take a test, and they have to send a photograph of a negative," manager Adelia Medina said.
There have been cases of flu at the centre - as there are at this time of the winter, so the precautions against COVID also work against these other winter bugs.
Communities at Work, one of the the largest providers of children's services in the ACT, said it, too, had kept COVID at bay by sticking to the measures from the time of the pandemic.
"The community is not only experiencing an increase in COVID but there have been recent increases in RSV (a common respiratory virus), and it is the beginning of the cold and flu season," said Kellie Stewart, its director of children's services.
