Jan 27, 2022 (Japan Times) - Naoko Muto feels it is just a matter of luck that the day care center she runs hasn’t had any COVID-19 cases despite the rapid spread of the omicron variant.
With heaters on full blast, the Takakura day care center in Nagoya keeps its windows slightly open all day to improve ventilation, while everything from nursing rooms to staff break rooms are disinfected daily. Basically, Muto says, her team is doing everything it can to prevent one of its employees or children from getting infected, which would force the facility to close down.
“Day cares have a societal role that allows working parents to go to work,” said Muto, whose facility has 121 pre-schoolers up to the age of 6 under its care. “But even if we do everything possible, we may not be able to prevent one of us from being infected.”
Muto is one of the scores of day care operators nationwide fearful of having to close down if a child or staffer gets infected with the coronavirus.
On Monday, the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry announced that a record 327 licensed day care facilities nationwide were closed as of Jan. 20 due to the virus. The figure exceeded the 185 facilities forced to shut down in early September during the fifth wave.
Day care closures are much more than an inconvenience for parents and can affect all sectors of society by forcing essential workers, among others, to take time off and care for their children.
In Japan, licensed day care centers are for households where both parents work or cannot take care of their child during the day for various reasons. Parents are screened by municipalities in order to be eligible to enroll their children.
When a day care shuts down, parents are typically forced to take time off work or work remotely from home if they can’t get help from family or friends.
Source: ANNnewsCH
