In-Home Childcare May Resume June 8
COVID-19 Update For Wednesday, May 27
Image: Centers For Disease Control And Prevention
Robert Moore
Herald Staff
rmoore@harrodsburgherald.com
Kentucky continues reopening after the COVID-19 shutdown. Now one of the biggest pieces to a fully functioning economy has been put in place, with the governor announcing that in-home childcare may resume on Monday, June 8.
Other childcare providers, such as day care centers and day camps, will be able to open on Monday, June 15.
Gov. Andy Beshear said the reopenings are contingent on there not being a spike in infections. The guidelines also apply to churches who offer Sunday school, daycare or mothers’ day off events.
In addition to meeting the state’s Healthy at Work Minimum Requirements, childcare programs must meet state requirements in order to reopen.
Groups are limited to no more than 10 children. Children will remain in the same group of all day without being combined with another classroom. In addition, the square footage requirement of space per child is still required, so a center cannot place 10 children in a classroom if the state has approved the room for a smaller number of children.
Ratios for children under the age of 24 months will still remain in place, so classrooms will need to have two adults present if caring for the maximum classroom size of 10 children. The same staff members should work with the same children each day in order to reduce additional exposure, including the staff members that give breaks to primary staff members.
Programs are required to stagger playground time between classroom groups. There are to be no center-wide family events or field trips.
For a full list of state requirements for reopening childcare facilities, visit govstatus.egov.com/ky-healthy-at-work.
There is currently one active confirmed case of COVID-19 in Mercer County, according to the health department, a female aged 40–49. At Tuesday’s briefing, Gov. Beshear reported 387 new COVID-19 cases, which includes cases from Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. So far, Kentucky has recorded 8,951 cases, including 151 probable cases, the governor said.
Across the world, there are over 5.7 million confirmed cases, resulting in354,884 deaths, according to worldometers.info. So far, over 2.4 million people have recovered.
In the U.S., which is the global epicenter of the pandemic, there have been over 1.7 million confirmed cases and 101,470 deaths. So far, 483,090 people have recovered.
Reopening Kentucky Schedule
Monday, June 1:
Auctions
Auto/dirt track racing
Aquatic centers (not community pools)
Bowling alleys
Fishing tournaments
Fitness centers
Kentucky State Park lodges
Movie theaters
Salato Wildlife Education Center
Monday, June 8:
Educational and cultural activities
Aquariums
Distilleries
Libraries
Limited outdoor attractions
Museums
Horse shows
In-home childcare programs
Thursday, June 11:
Kentucky Horse Park
Kentucky State Park campgrounds
Monday, June 15:
Childcare centers, day camps
Youth sports (low touch)
Monday, June 29:
Bars
Groups of 50 people or fewer
Youth sports (expanded activities)
In addition, businesses that reopened May 22 at 33-percent capacity can expand to 50-percent capacity on Monday, June 22, as long as they meet state guidelines.
“Based on the numbers we are seeing right now, we think we will be responsible and that we can hit it at that time,” said Gov. Beshear. “It all depends on how good we do at being Healthy at Work.”
