YMCA daycares to reopen following potential COVID-19 case

Some Regina families are getting much-needed relief on the child-care front.

Two YMCA daycares that recently shut because of a COVID-19 threat are reopening Friday.

On March 30, a parent within one of the centres reported to staff that they and their child were being tested as a result of experiencing similar symptoms related to the virus.

Fortunately, those tests came back negative so the Rochdale and Northwest locations will open their doors again.

The directors and staff have been conducting extensive cleaning to get ready for children to return.

“Although we might be judged potentially from some perspectives to have overreacted in this case, we think we’d rather face criticism for overreacting as opposed to underreacting and not informing the people that we serve,” YMCA CEO Steve Compton said.

Compton confirmed the centres will continue with the increased safety protocols that were in effect prior to the closure, which included recording temperatures of the children, handing out questionnaires to the parents before they enter the building, keeping to eight children per group, and enhancing cleaning and sanitization.

The NDP has called on the Sask. government to close all daycares in light of the COVID-19 pandemic to protect both staff and families.

Currently, daycares in schools are offered to the children of essential workers.

Other daycare centres have been allowed to stay open so long as they maintain staff to children ratio and have only eight children to a room.