Kinder Castle and COVID-19 15/03/2020

In these anxious times that we are all facing, Kinder Castle will at all times follow the advice given by Central Government and Public Health England regarding COVID-19.

Kinder Castle will remain fully operational until either we are advised by the aforementioned authorities, or a child, member of staff, family member comes into known contact with a confirmed case of the virus.

It is therefore of vital importance we are made aware of confirmed case as there are mechanisms in place that we will follow in consultation with Public Health England. Any confirmed cases not brought to our attention will be communicated to us by Public Health England, so please be as transparent with us as you can. We are under an obligation to respect confidentiality and will do so at all times.

The advice to staff and the public is that anyone ‘who has a persistent cough or fever’ stay home and isolated for 7 days. We must be aware that we are currently in the cold and flu season and anyone with a cold or flu like symptoms should also be staying at home to reduce the risk of infection. The symptoms related to COVID-19 are very specific and not to be confused with the general infections that are around us every day.

Anyone who has had close contact with a confirmed case or develops symptoms on return from the countries at risk, listed by the government, should immediately isolate for 14 days. If we experience a confirmed case within the Nursery, we must all be prepared for an immediate 14-day closure. In this case we will close as matter of priority and conduct a series of deep cleaning measures. We will ask for children to be collected as a matter of urgency and we will work with Public Health England at all times.

Should a temporary closure become active we will keep all parents up to date via our website. The moment at which we are safe to open again, we will. We realise a closure will raise many questions, not least around fees. Rest assured we are working on such matters in the background, however until we are presented with the reality of how operations will play out, it is something we will need to come back to you on at a later date.

Public Health has repeatedly advised that parents / childcare settings, should not be unduly worried about their children contracting COVID-19 and there is no reason why we can’t continue as normal. We ask those who have children with underlying health complications to take their own medical advice and proceed with the relevant caution.

These are unprecedented times we are navigating our way through. We can take comfort from the support we have from external agencies and we will continue to update you as any information changes.