Family Minister Giffey wants to "absolutely avoid" day-care center closings

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Daycare children in Hamburg: "Regular operation under pandemic conditions"

Daycare centers do not yet strictly adhere to the summer holidays. And so in most federal states it is already a reality what is only gradually beginning again in schools: so-called regular operation under pandemic conditions. With the exception of Bavaria, North Rhine-Westphalia, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia, all federal states have returned to looking after the children relatively normally, according to the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs. In the four countries mentioned, this is planned by September 1st at the latest.

But how can it be possible that the daycare centers do not have to close again across the board if corona infections occur frequently? According to Family Minister Franziska Giffey, renewed area-wide closings of facilities should be "avoided at all costs". "We have to do everything we can to prevent a second lockdown," she said when presenting measures for the new daycare year. The federal government wants to investigate the role of daycare centers in the spread of the coronavirus with a large-scale study.

There are already individual studies on this, but little knowledge about how regular daycare operations affect the infection rate. The study is being carried out by the German Youth Institute (DJI) together with the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), so that both social and medical issues are considered and the specific setting in daycare centers is taken into account.

"Unique nationwide database"

A Germany-wide daycare register should form the basis for the investigations. DJI director Thomas Rauschenbach said that "a unique nationwide database" will be built up. Only with the help of day care centers can it be made visible "which challenges daycare is facing today and how we can remain capable of acting in crises in the future".

Daycare centers are called upon to register for the register that starts on Tuesday. In the weekly surveys for the study, the daycare centers are asked, among other things, about the number of children being looked after, hygiene measures and the space and personnel situation. According to Rauschenbach there are already more than 5000 registrations, 10,000 registrations are necessary for meaningful results.

In addition to the register, representative surveys are to be carried out repeatedly, both among parents and with daycare staff. In addition, various public health data such as the FluWeb on respiratory diseases are used. And in the case of Covid 19 infections, parents, children and employees should of course be tested.

Giffey also called on the federal states to offer daycare workers voluntary tests even if they show no symptoms.

Federal guidelines

Giffey now wants to promote networking in the federal system, in which the states and municipalities are responsible for childcare. The minister said that the "Corona-Kita-Rat" should meet for the first time at the end of August. Representatives from the federal government, the federal states, municipalities, trade unions, parents and child day care providers should exchange ideas and concepts in the daycare centers once a month in the committee.

The federal government can only give the daycare centers recommendations for action. Giffey recalled the five guidelines that daycare centers can use as a guide. Hygiene is also the be-all and end-all there, said the minister. Ventilation plays a special role in this. Adults as well as parents and teachers should also ensure the necessary distance and wear masks if necessary. For the children, however, wearing masks is not practical.

To ensure that chains of infection remain traceable, fixed groups should be formed and changes in skilled workers should be avoided. In addition, sick and feverish children do not belong in daycare. However, Giffey welcomed the fact that this did not apply to children with colds in countries like Berlin.

Parent representatives are demanding more money

At the start of the new daycare year, parents' representatives also asked for more money from the federal government for the facilities to enable care during the Corona period. It needs "creative solutions, especially as far as staff and rooms are concerned - if the money costs, the federal government has to take it into its own hands," said Ulrike Grosse-Röthig, the spokeswoman for the parents' representatives for children in day-care centers and day-care centers (Bevki) Newspapers of the Funke media group.

On Monday, Giffey referred to the federal government's investment program of one billion euros that had already been adopted to expand the number of daycare places, which can also be used to finance measures to cope with the Corona crisis. As examples, she cited, among other things, the conversion of bedrooms for better ventilation or the purchase of disinfectant dispensers.

sun / dpa / AFP