Dealing with Positive COVID-19 Cases, Exposure in Child Care

The following information highlights specific actions that child care providers and staff must take if there is a confirmed or probable positive case of COVID-19 in a child or adult who has been present in their early learning program.

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Operations guidance from the Office of Childhood Development and Early Learning outlines the following protocols pertaining to all child care staff, household members residing in a group child care home (GCCH) or family child care home (FCCH), and children at a child care facility.

Confirmed positive cases

  • If the child is in care when the test results are confirmed positive, the child should be isolated (a staff member must be present) until the appropriate party arrives to pick them up. 

  • The facility should close for a period of 48 hours following the confirmed positive COVID-19 case so that the facility can be cleaned and disinfected properly. 

    (NOTE: If a child care provider must close due to a confirmed positive COVID-19 case, Child Care Works (CCW) payment will be based on enrollments on the day the facility closes due to the positive case. Payment based on enrollments will continue for all children until the facility is able to reopen.) 

  • The provider must inform parents of enrolled children. 

  • The facility should develop a process to inform child care staff of positive COVID-19 cases.

  • Timelines for returning to the facility are outlined in OCDEL’s “Discontinuing at home isolation” guidance.

Exposure

Exposure is defined as being within six (6) feet of the individual who tests positive for COVID-19 for a period of 15 minutes or more. It also means coming into direct contact with droplets from a COVID-19 positive individual. People who test positive are considered infectious 48 hours before the onset of symptoms. Those who test positive but do not have symptoms are considered infectious two (2) days after exposure (if known) or starting two (2) days before test date (if exposure is unknown). 

If a staff person, household member, or a child is exposed to an individual who tests positive for COVID-19: 

  • It is strongly recommended and highly encouraged that they self-quarantine for a period of 14 days based on the CDC guidance.

  • If a child becomes ill at the facility, the operator should notify the child’s parent as soon as possible, and they should inform parents of enrolled children when there is a suspected case.

Reporting

Early learning programs are required to report confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19, and  when a staff person, child, or household member is exposed to a positive COVID-19 case to the Department of Health (DOH), Department of Human Services (DHS), and Office of Child Development and Early Learning (OCDEL) Regional Office where the program resides.

To report confirmed and suspected positive cases of COVID-19 at an Allegheny County early learning program, please contact each of the following: 

When reporting, programs must provide the following information:

  • The name of the facility

  • The address of the facility including the county

  • The number of cases 

  • Identify if the positive case is a staff person, household member (of a GCCH or FCCH), child, or family member

*The confidential information collected will help track any potential outbreaks of COVID-19 and ensure the well-being of Allegheny County residents and children.

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