How Pennsylvania Day Cares Are Protecting Children From Coronavirus As More Parents Go Back To Work
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- As more parents go back to work, Pennsylvania day cares are taking steps to protect children from the virus. Finding the right day care for any family takes time and effort. COVID-19 adds another layer of doubt -- not good news for owners who are trying to stay afloat.
For children, the world may seem quite normal now that they're back to seeing their friends at day care. It's almost as if they never left.
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Behind the scenes and for everyone's protection, anyone that walks into Trice Day Care has their temperature taken. Staff members wear masks and gloves all day.
Although children don't keep their masks on throughout the day, their temperatures are also being monitored.
"We're taking it before nap, after nap and before they leave, because you know, sometimes temperatures change," Trice Day Care Center owner Marsha Crews said.
The day care is following public health guidelines through and through. But as owners and operators figure out the next steps, families must too.
Eyewitness News learned Wednesday that the city will be sending out a survey to families in order to learn about their concerns about sending children back to centers as they plan to head back to offices.
For now, less than a quarter of the children that usually attend Trice are here.
"We have to do this on our own, not only for our business but parents, employees and the community that depends on us," Crews said.
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Trice's owners, who are siblings, applied for every possible stimulus but received nothing. The center was all started by their mother 35 years ago in a basement.
They intend to carry on her legacy even as they continue to struggle.
"Can we survive? Would we be able to survive through this? That was our biggest worry there," Crews said.
The owners say they're currently absorbing all the extra costs that come with keeping the place sanitized. That includes laundering children's bedding every other day. There's very little money coming in and a whole lot going out.