Parents frustrated with kids being sent home because of child care COVID-19 protocols
Parents and child care operators feel exhausted by COVID-19 screening measures that send some kids home multiple times a month.
"It's been really important that we catch cases early," says Kim Yeaman, Children's Services Director at Simcoe Child Care Services in Innisfil. "But it's been a lot of stress for a lot of people."
Children exhibiting symptoms of COVID-19, including a cough, fever, nausea, or vomiting, are required to isolate and be tested.
If kids develop symptoms at their child care centre, their parent or guardian gets a call.
Cheryl Peyton, owner of Barrie's Little Start Child Care Centre, says the process is frustrating, with staff recognizing the symptoms could be the result of a slew of other common childhood ailments.
"The last thing we want to do is send children home, but if they show symptoms, we are bound by the regulations set up by the Ministry of Education and the health unit," Peyton says.
Push back from moms and dads has been strong, with some choosing to pull their kids out of child care entirely rather than deal with the uncertainty.
"(It's) making parents take a lot of time off work; retest their children over and over and over again for things that in past times that would have just been a regular cold," says Yeaman.
Amanda Viau's three-year-old daughter has been swabbed for COVID-19 seven times during the pandemic. The tests were triggered by a runny nose, a cough, and diarrhea. Each test came back negative.
"I don't blame it on our daycare at all. We love our daycare. They're just following the rules; I get it. But I feel like there has to be another solution," Viau says.
Peyton believes rapid tests could help alleviate some of the tension around screening.
"It would be amazing to be able to offer parents the option to do rapid tests either at home or at the centre," Peyton says.
The province of Quebec will distribute rapid tests to parents of children in daycare showing symptoms of COVID-19 starting Monday.
Ontario has made rapid tests available to public health units for use in schools and child care at the discretion of medical officers of health. But Queen's Park stresses the tests shouldn't be used for symptomatic kids.
The Ministry of Education is sending school-aged children home with five rapid tests to prevent infected kids from returning to class after the winter break.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'They needed people inside Air Canada:' Police announce arrests in Pearson gold heist
Police say one former and one current employee of Air Canada are among the nine suspects that are facing charges in connection with the gold heist at Pearson International Airport last year.
House admonishes ArriveCan contractor in rare parliamentary show of power
MPs enacted an extraordinary, rarely used parliamentary power on Wednesday, summonsing an ArriveCan contractor to appear before the House of Commons where he was admonished publicly and forced to provide answers to the questions MPs said he'd previously evaded.
Leafs star Auston Matthews finishes season with 69 goals
Auston Matthews won't be joining the NHL's 70-goal club this season.
Trump lawyers say Stormy Daniels refused subpoena outside a Brooklyn bar, papers left 'at her feet'
Donald Trump's legal team says it tried serving Stormy Daniels a subpoena as she arrived for an event at a bar in Brooklyn last month, but the porn actor, who is expected to be a witness at the former president's criminal trial, refused to take it and walked away.
Why drivers in Eastern Canada could see big gas price spikes, and other Canadians won't
Drivers in Eastern Canada face a big increase in gas prices because of various factors, especially the higher cost of the summer blend, industry analysts say.
Doug Ford calls on Ontario Speaker to reverse Queen's Park keffiyeh ban
Ontario Premier Doug Ford is calling on Speaker Ted Arnott to reverse a ban on keffiyehs at Queen's Park, describing the move as “needlessly” divisive.
'A living nightmare': Winnipeg woman sentenced following campaign of harassment against man after online date
A Winnipeg woman was sentenced to house arrest after a single date with a man she met online culminated in her harassing him for years, and spurred false allegations which resulted in the innocent man being arrested three times.
Woman who pressured boyfriend to kill his ex in 2000s granted absences from prison
A woman who pressured her boyfriend into killing his teenage ex more than a decade ago will be allowed to leave prison for weeks at a time.
Customers disappointed after email listing $60K Tim Hortons prize sent in error
Several Tim Horton’s customers are feeling great disappointment after being told by the company that an email stating they won a boat worth nearly $60,000 was sent in error.