COLUMBUS, Ohio - Gov. Mike DeWine announced Tuesday afternoon that the state’s public and private child care centers -- which have been under strict coronavirus guidelines mandating lower numbers of kids -- are allowed to return to normal levels Aug. 9.
DeWine said the decision will be up to each center.
“We will give child care providers a choice. They can get a significant subsidy,” DeWine said. “If they do that they need to keep a small ratio. If they opt not to do that, they can go back to the (regular) ratio.”
During the time of the lower ratios of children per teacher, classroom and center, the state has provided about $30 million to child care centers from the federal CARES Act, to help them stay in business while receiving less money from parents, DeWine said.
“There’s been few things that I’ve agonized over as much as child care,” DeWine said.
DeWine believes Ohio’s rules resulted in the safest child care in the country.
“Now, I caught a lot of hell for that,” he said. “And a lot of people, you know, were upset -- some of the child care providers were upset.”
DeWine said he’s changing the policy because many schools will return with in-person classes. That leaves working parents with younger children in a bind.
“Families, of course, are tracking that and families with both parents working, single moms or dads, have to make decisions about what to do,” DeWine said.
Some families are having to make tough decisions, if parents need to work, such as asking elderly relatives to babysit, DeWine said. Older people are at risk for COVID-19 more than the general population.
The result of having grandparents taking care of kids, DeWine reasoned, created a more unsafe situation in Ohio, which is why he’s letting daycares accept more kids, he said.
“Our daycare providers, who do a good job, are better able to take care of these kids,” he said.
Day care staff will have to wear masks, as well as children age 10 and older.
However, DeWine said he will continue to watch the situation in day care centers.
Since the outbreak entered Ohio, 442 people associated with day cares have tested positive for the coronavirus: 306 were staff and 136 were kids, DeWine said.
The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services -- which regulates day cares -- embarked on an investigation to try to figure out the source of the infections.
DeWine noted that pinpointing such details is difficult.
“It looks like about three-fourths of those came from community spread,” he said. “About a fourth came from cases directly from that child care setting.”
DeWine said Ohio is participating in a multi-state study about the risk of COVID-19 in child care centers.
“It should be instructive to us, also looking at what variables can change to get a better result,” he said. “So when that study comes back we are going to know more and I’m sure we will go back out into the field, or child care providers, and say to them, ‘This is the most important thing you’ve got to do,' and ask them to do those things.”
More coverage:
Newly reported Ohio coronavirus cases increase 1,320: Gov. Mike DeWine’s Tuesday briefing
Gov. Mike DeWine to hold Tuesday’s coronavirus briefing: Watch live
Ohio Medicaid rolls climbing toward 3 million again
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