(file photo/paNOW Staff)

By Glenn Hicks

COVID-19

Repurposed Prince Albert daycares now operational

Mar 23, 2020 | 2:00 PM

Repurposed child care centres in school buildings are up and running in Prince Albert as per the provincial directive amid the the COVID-19 pandemic.

Children of essential workers — such as in health care, child care or emergency personnel involved in pandemic response — can be looked after at St. Francis, St. Anne and St. Michael schools.

“Having this service for working parents is critical, “Gail Szautner, the executive director of Children’s Choice in P.A. told paNOW. “These parents particularly need to work at this time because they are an essential service. That’s why we’ve done this in collaboration with the Government of Saskatchewan and the Catholic School Division.”

Szautner said each of the three schools would have a capacity of 24 minimum. Some children were already in care as of today and there was space available. An application process for parents working in essential services can be found on this site.

She added regular daycare spots at their Dunn Drive location also opened up in recent days because some working parents were now back at home.

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“Some of our parents are working remotely and some of them are laid off, so if people don’t meet the criteria for getting into one of the schools, they can certainly give me a call at Dunn Drive,“ she said.

Szautner pointed out the COVID-19 pandemic means daycares are restricted in terms of their limit on groups sizes. There can be no more than eight children in a room.

The capacity at the Dunn Drive facility is therefore reduced from its usual 65 to 32.

A letter issued to parents said sanitization was stepped up and thorough and frequent hand washing was continuing throughout the day.

Staff and children who become ill will be asked to stay home and self-monitor.

All bedding is being washed daily after nap time.

—

glenn.hicks@jpbg.ca

On Twitter:@princealbertnow