Children and staff members at child care centers will be eligible for a new Covid-19 testing regimen, Vermont state officials announced Friday.
Under “Tests for Tots,” an initiative of the state Child Development Division, Vermont officials will make rapid Covid-19 tests available for children and child care workers around the state.
The announcement of the program comes less than a week after child care programs and parents expressed frustration about perceptions that they were passed over when it came to Covid-19 resources for schools.
At its base, the program is similar to “test-to-stay,” a rapid testing regimen that Vermont schools use to monitor outbreaks and reduce infections. Per the Tests for Tots guidelines, staffers should conduct contact tracing to identify close contacts after a person is infectious while at the child care center.
All unvaccinated close contacts, or children between two and five years old, should be tested daily — by parents or guardians — before arriving at the child care center for five days.
If someone receives a positive test, that person should stay home and isolate for five days.
“The (child care) program should ask parents/guardians and staff about test results daily but should not require proof of a negative test,” the Tests for Tots website reads.
After a case of infectious Covid-19 at the child care center, all children between six weeks and 23 months of age must be isolated from older children participating in the testing regimen. If they cannot be isolated at the center, they must quarantine at home.
Fully vaccinated adults, as well as anyone who has had a confirmed case of Covid-19 in the past 90 days, are exempt.
“This approach will safely decrease the burden of contact tracing for child care program staff, while limiting the impact of quarantines on children, their families, and staff,” Vermont Gov. Phil Scott said in a Friday press release.
More details, as well as instructions for enrolling, are available here.
