An article in an ongoing series for Head Start/Early Head Start programs to plan and prepare for inpacts from coronavirus.

As stated in the original article: To prepare for possible community transmission of COVID-19, the most important thing for Head Start programs to do now is plan and prepare. As the global outbreak evolves, programs should prepare for the possibility of community-level outbreaks. Head Start wants to be ready if COVID-19 does appear in our communities.

Today's feature stresses the importance of basic facility hygiene and tips for helping carry out best practices in your Head Start facility.

1. Place hand sanitizer at parent sign in/out station. Encourage the parents to use it when entering your facility.
2. Schedule extra sanitizing of door handles, faucets, etc. throughout the day. Use bleach solution with a 2 minute dry time.
3. Did you know that scented bleaches and non-splash bleaches do NOT contain the same amount of disinfection product as plain bleach? Only plain fragrance-free bleach should be used for sanitizing sprays.
4. Teach children to wash their hands correctly. Fun tools to use can include stamping their hands and seeing if they can scrub the stamp away or draw a line at wrist with a washable marker and have them scrub to wrist area and scrub the line away.
5. Use anitbacterial soap and warm water to wash hands. Do not place hands under the running water until after you have rubbed in the soap for 20 seconds first.
6. Place a sticker in the bend of the child's elbow to encourage coughing/sneezing in elbow in they are unable to use a tissue.
7. Refrain from using water fountains.

These ideas came from our local health department who also shared this site for more resources: https://info.childcareaware.org/blog/coronavirus-updates-and-resources-for-child-care-providers-and-ccrrs

If you have questions, feel free to contact us: ttas.info@wku.edu or 800.882.7482

_________________________

J. Christopher Watkins, Executive Director
Training & Technical Assistance Services (T/TAS)
Western Kentucky University

800.882.7482
www.ttas.org
ttas.info@wku.edu
Advancing knowledge within early learning communities

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