If you're struggling with daycare quarantines (and live in MoCo)

[Anonymous]

Hi all,

Late last week, Maryland released updated isolation and quarantine guidance for K-12 schools and childcare centers: https://health.maryland.gov/phpa/Documents/01.06.2022%20Memo%20School%20Childcare%20Guidance.pdf

This new policy syncs with the recent CDC change to allow 5 days of quarantine for unvaccinated exposed children. This is great news for those of us who have been crushed by 14-day daycare quarantines.

Unfortunately, Montgomery County health officials are considering not approving this change. MoCo health officials and other county leadership need to hear from daycare parents now on this. They are going to make a decision very soon, so please reach out (see below) as soon as possible. Please also forward this message - we need as many people to speak up as possible.

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OFFICIALS TO CONTACT:
James C. Bridgers, DHHS Deputy Health Officer / 240-777-4253 / [e-mail]
Clark Beil, DHHS Senior Administrator for Licensure and Regulatory Services / o: 240-777-3831 / c: 240-832-6823 / [e-mail]
Kenneth Welch, DHHS Environmental Health Manager / 240-777-3840/ [e-mail]
Eli Hernandez, Outbreak POC, DHHS / [e-mail]
Mark Elrich, County Executive / [e-mail]
Earl Stoddard, Chief Administrative Officer for Health and Human Services / [e-mail]
Sonia Mora, Senior Manager, MoCo Health and Human Services / [e-mail]
Montgomery County Councilmembers

SAMPLE MESSAGE:

Hello,

I understand that Montgomery County Health Department officials are currently considering revising Maryland's updated isolation and quarantine guidance for K-12 and childcare.

I am a parent of children in daycare who has been subject to repeated 14-day quarantines that are threatening my ability to work. I implore you to ratify the state guidance as written and to consider adding a test-to-stay option, which was recently approved by the CDC for unvaccinated children.

The new state guidance accounts for the fact that daycare children are sometimes unmasked. If Montgomery County officials feel we should be departing from the CDC and the state of Maryland on this critical issue, they need to immediately engage with the public about why.

Parents' livelihoods are literally at stake, and there is no reason our policies should be different in Montgomery County than in the rest of Maryland.

[Anonymous]

Thank you OP, I will do so!

[Anonymous]

OMG Thank you so much! We're dying over here.

[Anonymous]

Meh, I've never had a quarantine. Large center-based daycare too.

A 5-day isolation and quarantine for unvaccinated children in a daycare setting doesn't seem science-based.

[Anonymous]

Try to have some compassion for the parents who've had multiple quarantines. The single parents, essential workers, those without family, and those without flexible jobs especially. People's livelihoods, financial stability, and mental health are at stake.

All policy is a combination of science + values + risk analysis. Considering all that, the CDC and Maryland were right to revise to five days.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Meh, I've never had a quarantine. Large center-based daycare too.

A 5-day isolation and quarantine for unvaccinated children in a daycare setting doesn't seem science-based.

I am going to go with the CDC over “random Internet poster” with a degree from Google.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Try to have some compassion for the parents who've had multiple quarantines. The single parents, essential workers, those without family, and those without flexible jobs especially. People's livelihoods, financial stability, and mental health are at stake.

All policy is a combination of science + values + risk analysis. Considering all that, the CDC and Maryland were right to revise to five days.

+1. I can’t recall now if CDC/MD recommended a negative test after the 5 days in order to return, but I’d be fine with that too. The 14 days with no test out option is crushing and not science based at this point.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Meh, I've never had a quarantine. Large center-based daycare too.

A 5-day isolation and quarantine for unvaccinated children in a daycare setting doesn't seem science-based.

Congrats? Once you experience multiple ones, please come back and give us your assessment.

[Anonymous]

I am a daycare in Montgomery County and haven’t heard anything to the contrary from the county. We already adopted the state guidance, we’re licensed and regulated by the state and not the county.

If the county opposes these new guidelines, well that ship has sailed! The new guidance came out last week. If they oppose that they would’ve put out a statement or email to daycare‘s but they haven’t.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am a daycare in Montgomery County and haven’t heard anything to the contrary from the county. We already adopted the state guidance, we’re licensed and regulated by the state and not the county.

If the county opposes these new guidelines, well that ship has sailed! The new guidance came out last week. If they oppose that they would’ve put out a statement or email to daycare‘s but they haven’t.

That is a big relief to hear. We are hearing a different assessment from other providers, however. They believe that licensing requires them to report cases to the MoCo Health Dept., and that if the Health Dept. then gives them quarantine guidance that differs from the state's, (i.e., quarantine a class for 14 days vs. 5), that providers have to follow that even if it is more strict.

What are you thoughts on that?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am a daycare in Montgomery County and haven’t heard anything to the contrary from the county. We already adopted the state guidance, we’re licensed and regulated by the state and not the county.

If the county opposes these new guidelines, well that ship has sailed! The new guidance came out last week. If they oppose that they would’ve put out a statement or email to daycare‘s but they haven’t.

That is a big relief to hear. We are hearing a different assessment from other providers, however. They believe that licensing requires them to report cases to the MoCo Health Dept., and that if the Health Dept. then gives them quarantine guidance that differs from the state's, (i.e., quarantine a class for 14 days vs. 5), that providers have to follow that even if it is more strict.

What are you thoughts on that?

Yes, that is correct. We have to report cases to the health department.

Are you sure you want to know my thoughts? You might not like them but here goes. IMO, the reason my daycare has avoided daycare spread is because of strict sickness policies and the 14 day quarantine. Masks don't work well at this level because they don't wear them effectively. When children start coming into daycare on day 6, we will start seeing higher spread and more whole daycare shut downs. Right now I rather inconvenience one family rather than get shut down and inconvenience all the families.

Ultimately daycares are businesses that can establish their own covid polices, which can be stricter than the State's or county's policies.

I adopted the new guidelines and now there are some kids that are back on their day 6/7, wearing masks. We have eaten together, snacked together, napped together. I guarantee you that they have already infected a child or two and that by next week I will be shut down. I may have to go back to the 14 days rule.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Try to have some compassion for the parents who've had multiple quarantines. The single parents, essential workers, those without family, and those without flexible jobs especially. People's livelihoods, financial stability, and mental health are at stake.

All policy is a combination of science + values + risk analysis. Considering all that, the CDC and Maryland were right to revise to five days.

+1. I can’t recall now if CDC/MD recommended a negative test after the 5 days in order to return, but I’d be fine with that too. The 14 days with no test out option is crushing and not science based at this point.

+1. And let's do rapid tests and not PCR, which can continue to test positive for 90 days after recovery and take several days to get results. These requirements are crippling for working parents.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am a daycare in Montgomery County and haven’t heard anything to the contrary from the county. We already adopted the state guidance, we’re licensed and regulated by the state and not the county.

If the county opposes these new guidelines, well that ship has sailed! The new guidance came out last week. If they oppose that they would’ve put out a statement or email to daycare‘s but they haven’t.

That is a big relief to hear. We are hearing a different assessment from other providers, however. They believe that licensing requires them to report cases to the MoCo Health Dept., and that if the Health Dept. then gives them quarantine guidance that differs from the state's, (i.e., quarantine a class for 14 days vs. 5), that providers have to follow that even if it is more strict.

What are you thoughts on that?

Yes, that is correct. We have to report cases to the health department.

Are you sure you want to know my thoughts? You might not like them but here goes. IMO, the reason my daycare has avoided daycare spread is because of strict sickness policies and the 14 day quarantine. Masks don't work well at this level because they don't wear them effectively. When children start coming into daycare on day 6, we will start seeing higher spread and more whole daycare shut downs. Right now I rather inconvenience one family rather than get shut down and inconvenience all the families.

Ultimately daycares are businesses that can establish their own covid polices, which can be stricter than the State's or county's policies.

I adopted the new guidelines and now there are some kids that are back on their day 6/7, wearing masks. We have eaten together, snacked together, napped together. I guarantee you that they have already infected a child or two and that by next week I will be shut down. I may have to go back to the 14 days rule.

DP but I'm a bit confused by your post. If a child in one of the classes gets Covid, no one else gets sent home? Any Covid cases in our daycare class results in the entire class being sent home for 14 days AND we need a negative test to return. Or if you're referencing a child who has just been exposed elsewhere (outside daycare) and you're concerned about that exposed child coming back on day 6 and exposing the class, why not require a test to return?

[Anonymous]

I can understand the hesitancy to make the jump from 14 to 5 days, but isn’t this in part because MoCo never fully adapted the revised 10 day quarantines? At least that was what we were told by our center director- they could use the shortened 10 day quarantine for the 4s classes but not the 2s/3s classes (presumably because even though masks are required, they don’t fully trust in this age group to wear them).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I can understand the hesitancy to make the jump from 14 to 5 days, but isn’t this in part because MoCo never fully adapted the revised 10 day quarantines? At least that was what we were told by our center director- they could use the shortened 10 day quarantine for the 4s classes but not the 2s/3s classes (presumably because even though masks are required, they don’t fully trust in this age group to wear them).

The policies seem to have to been all over the place. Our center said that the MoCo Health Dept. required them to do a 14-day quarantine each time no matter what.

There's lots of confusion now too -- some centers are moving out with implementing the new state guidance, while others are waiting to hear if MoCo modifies it.

Parents cannot tolerate this much confusion and uncertainty on such an important issue. Please, reach out to our local officials if you can and ask them to ratify the state guidance, authorize test-to-stay, and provide clarity to all providers and parents as soon as possible.