Implementing Mitigation Strategies in Early Care and Education Settings for Prevention of SARS-CoV-2 Transmission — Eight States, September–October 2020

Details

• Personal Author:
  Coronado, Fátima ; Blough, Sara ; Bergeron, Deborah ; Proia, Krista ; Sauber-Schatz, P Erin ; Beltran, Marco ; Rau, Katherine Troy ; McMichael, Andria ; Fortin, Tracye ; Lackey, Mark ; Rohs, Jovanna ; Sparrow, Tracey ; Baldwin, Grant
• Corporate Authors:
  CDC COVID-19 Response Team. ; United States Office of Head Start ; Educare Learning Network.
• Description:
  What is already known about this topic? The benefits of in-person child care programs are myriad; however, SARS-CoV-2 Transmission has been documented in child care facilities.
  
  What is added by this report? Head Start and Early Head Start programs successfully implemented CDC-recommended guidance and other ancillary measures for child care programs that remained open, allowing them to continue offering in-person learning. These approaches were documented to guide implementation of mitigation strategies in child care settings.
  
  What are the implications for public health practice? Implementing and monitoring adherence to recommended mitigation strategies can reduce risk for SARS-CoV-2 Transmission in child care settings. These approaches could be applied to other early care and education settings that remain open for in-person learning and potentially reduce the spread of coronaVirus disease 2019.
  
  The Head Start program, including Head Start for children aged 3–5 years and Early Head Start for infants, toddlers, and pregnant women, promotes early learning and healthy development among children aged 0–5 years whose families meet the annually adjusted Federal Poverty Guidelines* throughout the United States† These programs are funded by grants administered by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Administration for Children and Families (ACF). In March 2020, Congress passed the CoronaVirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, which appropriated $750 million for Head Start, equating to approximately $875 in CARES Act funds per enrolled child. In response to the coronaVirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, most states required all schools (K-12) to close or transition to virtual learning. The Office of Head Start gave its local programs that remained open the flexibility to use CARES Act funds to implement CDC-recommended guidance (1) and other ancillary measures to provide in-person services in the early phases of community Transmission of SARS-CoV-2, the Virus that causes COVID-19, in April and May 2020, when many similar programs remained closed. Guidance included information on masks, other personal protective equipment, physical setup, supplies necessary for maintaining healthy environments and operations, and the need for additional staff members to ensure small class sizes. Head Start programs successfully implemented CDC-recommended mitigation strategies and supported other practices that helped to prevent SARS-CoV-2 Transmission among children and staff members. CDC conducted a mixed-Methods Analysis to document these approaches and inform implementation of mitigation strategies in other child care settings. Implementing and monitoring adherence to recommended mitigation strategies reduces risk for COVID-19 Transmission in child care settings. These approaches could be applied to other early care and education settings that remain open for in-person learning and potentially reduce SARS-CoV-2 Transmission.
  
  In collaboration with ACF, CDC conducted a mixed-Methods study during September–October 2020 in Head Start programs in eight states (Alaska, Georgia, Idaho, Maine, Missouri, Texas, Washington, and Wisconsin). Head Start programs, each with five to 17 centers and 500–2,500 children, were selected by the Office of Head Start. The four-phase study design included reviews of standard operating procedures (SOPs) for COVID-19 mitigation, deployment of an online survey for program directors to document mitigation strategies implemented and COVID-19 cases reported, in-depth interviews with staff members from five programs overall, and observation of mitigation strategy implementation during a virtual visit to one Head Start site. This activity was reviewed by CDC and was conducted consistent with applicable federal law and CDC policy.
  
  Suggested citation for this article: Coronado F, Blough S, Bergeron D, et al. Implementing Mitigation Strategies in Early Care and Education Settings for Prevention of SARS-CoV-2 Transmission — Eight States, September–October 2020. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. ePub: 7 December 2020
  
  mm6949e3.htm?s_cid=mm6949e3_w
  
  mm6949e3-H.pdf
  
  
• Subjects:
  Child Child, Preschool Child Care CoronaVirus Infections COVID-19 Incidence Pandemics Pneumonia, Viral
• Source:
  MMWR: Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report 2020; v. 69 Early Release
• Series:
  Weekly Report: Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR)
• ISSN:
  0149-2195 (print) ; 1545-861X (digital)
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Genre:
  Guidance
• Place as Subject:
  Alaska ; Georgia ; Idaho ; Maine ; Missouri ; Texas ; Washington ; Wisconsin
• Pages in Document:
  5 pdf pages
• Volume:
  69
• Collection(s):
  Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR)
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:df3da9106a45bc13c3ee2dc86c51e2c3520cffafd9295000841522d00cf22440f9e88e943816695a6ad94e893dd09dbd756c939c7a89879d37ccf286de18fd05
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/98343/cdc_98343_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 206.48 KB ]