Covid-hit nurseries shutdown as government exempts under 5s from testing and self-isolation

Nurseries are being forced to shut their doors as Covid-19 infections rise in childcare settings in the UK but many are angry that children aged under five who are close contacts of a positive Covid case no longer need to take a test or self-isolate, according to new government guidance.

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While parents worry a rapidly rising number of Covid cases in childcare settings will leave them to care for children while trying to follow the government’s work from home advice, nurseries are shocked that new guidance no longer requires under fives who are close contacts of a positive Covid case to self-isolate or even take a test.

An update to guidance from the Department for Education following the emergence of the Omicron variant (14 December), states: ‘Children under 5 years are exempt from self-isolation and do not need to take part in daily testing of close contacts.’

Previous guidance stated families with children under five were 'advised to take a PCR test' if a member of their household tested positive for a non-Omicron variant of Covid-19. Under fives were also included in the rule which stated all household contacts must isolate if they were confirmed as a close contact of a positive or suspected case of Omicron.

The lack of safety measures in place for under fives is in contrast to guidance issued for children aged five-to 18-years-old who are required to take daily lateral flow tests for seven days instead of self-isolating.

Nursery manager: 30% of children off sick

Hannah Jennings, nursery manager at Tops Newport was nominated for an NMT award by her staff at the early years setting based at the Isle of Wight College. Ms Jennings has been honoured with the title 'Nursery Manager of the Year'.

Hannah Jennings, which usually sees 170 children at the setting, told daynurseries.co.uk: "We’ve had quite of few cases of Covid here. We’ve had about 30 per cent of our children off sick."

Referring to the guidance, she said: “It is a concern more because children are getting Covid more now. The children don’t have to isolate but it puts our staff at risk when the children don’t. Staff are taking Covid tests. Staff must still isolate and it can then affect the childcare ratios in nurseries.

“Luckily, we haven’t had to close. We’ve stayed open for the pandemic for the NHS and other key workers. I think for me it’s about getting the word out about how important the early years is.”

Parent: 'We were turned away at 8.15'

Meanwhile, a nursery in Cumbria is one of many childcare settings which have already been shutdown due to a Covid outbreak caused by increasing levels of infections in childcare settings.

South Walney Infant and Nursery School shut its doors on 14 December and will remain closed until January. The setting closed at 3.15pm on Tuesday 14 December and is scheduled to re-open on 5 January.

Cumbria County Council said in a statement: ‘School has moved to remote learning for the final two days due to an outbreak of COVID 19. Public health and IPC have agreed these measures.’

Ofsted data has revealed a steep increase in the number of nurseries reporting cases of Covid-19, with 2,707 confirmed cases in the week commencing 22 November.

Many parents fear the government's actions will leave them struggling to care for young children while trying to work from home. John Potts took to Twitter to post: ‘There are lots of parental stresses and strains but few strike fear into the soul like those three words: Nursery COVID closure’.

One mum, commenting on the closure of another nursery, tweeted: ‘Our nursery opens at 7:30 but we were turned away at 8:15 due to a positive staff test.

‘Is there not a company policy that staff should test no later than 6am so parents can be warned as early as possible about closures? And why is there not enough bank staff?‘

Mum Rachel Fisher tweeted: ‘The littlest member of the Fisher household has brought covid home from nursery. You wouldn’t know there was anything wrong with her (thankfully). Mummy on the other hand has not got off so lightly.’

Nursery leader: ‘Utterly reckless' policy 'beggars belief’

Nursery leaders have expressed their anger at the new guidance.

Neil Leitch, chief executive of the Early Years Alliance, which represents nurseries, said: “Early years settings are one of the very few places where social distancing is simply impossible.

“It beggars belief, therefore, that there could ever be any suggestion of simply removing the requirement for children aged under five who have been confirmed as close contacts of positive Covid cases to self-isolate without putting in place any alternative mitigation measures.

"Those working in the sector already feel that their safety, and that of their loved ones, is not valued by the government. We hope that this is a case of poorly written guidance, rather than utterly reckless policy-making, and urge the government to provide clarity to the early years sector on this as a matter of priority.”

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