Child-care operators, staff call for access to PCR testing, more HEPA filters

Ontario child-care operators and staff are calling on the provincial government to take steps to make those settings safer during the COVID-19 pandemic and to ensure the sector's long-term viability.

One immediate step urged by the dozens of operators, labour groups and public health experts who have signed on to an open letter to the premier is to reinstate eligibility for PCR testing.

Late last year in response to a surge in Omicron cases, the province limited access to PCR testing to high-risk settings, which doesn't include child-care centres or schools, except if a student or staff member develops symptoms while at school.

The child-care operators and staff say allowing access to PCR testing would mean centres could track cases and parents would only have to isolate at home with their child for one or two days in the event of a negative result, instead of five.

"We have the vast majority of our families who don't have theprivilege of being able to stay home with their children for anotherfive days," said Sheila Olan-Maclean, a child-care operator and thepresident of the Ontario Coalition for Better Child Care.

"It means the difference between having a job and not having ajob to go back to."

When asked if the province would consider giving children, families and staff in child care access to PCR testing again, a spokeswoman for Health Minister Christine Elliott pointed to comments the chief medical officer of health made last week.

"We're regularly reviewing the criteria for PCR testing," Dr. Kieran Moore said.

However, Moore said he wants to see a "balance" between PCR tests and rapid antigen tests.

Jessica Tomas, a registered early childhood educator, noted thatwith no access to PCR testing, the government is also no longerreporting the numbers of COVID-19 cases in child-care centres.

"Working with unvaccinated and unmasked children, I'moverwhelmed daily by the pressure to keep everyone safe," Tomassaid.

"Now, with the Ford government lessening the reporting that Irelied on as a professional, I am more unprotected than ever. Themasks and the tests that were promised by the ministry haven't beenreceived."

Supply of masks not sufficient,operators say

The province announced earlier this month that it was sending N95masks to all schools and child-care centres as Ontario contends withthe highly infectious Omicron variant.

A government spokeswoman has said that an "ongoing and steadysupply" of masks will be provided to daycares, but many operatorssay they have only received enough for a few days, or at most a weekor two, with no indication of when they will receive more.

Carolyn Ferns, with the Ontario Coalition for Better Child Care,said as a parent of a kid in child care, the PCRtests thather family could previously access provided peace of mind.

"We came to rely on on PCR testing to be able to reliably say,'Is this COVID? Is this the sniffles?' and be able to go back tochild care," she said.

Olan-Maclean said her child-care centres have not been chargingparents who have to keep their children home, often for five days ata time due to the isolation rules, and that has left her projectinga $400,000 deficit this year.

Increase in financial support needed, open letter says

The open letter sent Wednesday also calls for the province toprovide enough HEPA filters for each classroom and common area inOntario's over 5,000 child-care programs settings in whichchildren are largely unmasked.

It feels like child care is not a priority for the Ontariogovernment, Olan-Maclean said.

"Families are leaving because they don't have the security ofknowing that their children are safe, and we can't assure them anylonger that their children are safe in our programs," she said."It's just not OK."

The letter also calls on the government to increase financialsupport to licensed child-care programs to ensure recruitment andretention of staff, and to sign on to the federal government's$10-a-day child-care plan.

Caitlin Clark, aspokeswoman for Education Minister Stephen Lecce, said in a statement on Wednesday that the government has supported and protected child-care centres with increased funding, N95 masks, rapid tests, and accelerated access to booster shots for staff.

"While Ontario's plan has helped to ensure child-care centers remain open and as safe as possible throughout the pandemic, we have stayed focused on landing a fair deal with the federal government that finally makes child care affordable for parents," Clark said.

Premier Doug Ford has said his government is "very, very close"to a deal with Ottawa on child care.

Lecce has said that the province ispushing for more than the $10.2 billion on offer from the federalgovernment to ensure that fees can be reduced to $10 a day, as wellas trying to ensure the deal goes beyond five years and takes intoaccount the $3.6 billion a year that the province spends on full-daykindergarten.