California Department of Health Guidelines for Coronavirus in Daycare and Preschool

Guidelines have been issued from the California Department of Health for preventing and addressing the novel coronavirus in group childcare settings, including daycare and preschool.

The coronavirus is a respiratory illness first discovered in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China and has been spreading rapidly over the last few months. As of this writing, there have been about 80 confirmed cases of the coronavirus in the United States with the first confirmed case on January 30, 2020.

China’s Hubei province has seen 2,803 deaths from the virus of the 3,000 total reported deaths. Two of those deaths occurred in Washington State.

Nearly all deaths from the novel coronavirus have been in elderly patients, many of those who had preexisting health conditions and compromised immune systems. The virus is reported to be extremely mild in children generally presenting as cold-like symptoms. There have been no reported deaths from the coronavirus in children under nine.

Reported deaths from novel coronavirus

The CDC guidelines indicate that travelers returning from mainland China limit public interactions for 14 days after their return. Based on this, children who have traveled to China should be excluded from daycare and preschool for two weeks. The guidelines issued are only for mainland China and not to Hong Kong, Macau, or Taiwan.

If a daycare or preschool staff member or child presents symptoms of respiratory illness, such as cough or fever within 14 days of returning from China, precautions should be taken. The individual should be separated from others and the CDC should be contacted at 1-800-232-4636 for next steps.

CDC guidance on returning travelers is available here: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/php/riskassessment.html.

While this guidance was specifically issued by the California Department of Health, families in other states should use the same precaution.

This report does not serve as medical advice. We encourage every family to follow the advice of their own doctor and/or updated guidelines from their state health department, should they be issued. The CDC has not indicated that there is any reason to pull your child from daycare or preschool at this time.

To help prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus, practice proper handwashing techniques, and cough and sneeze into your elbow, not your hands.

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