When nursery schools for preschool children are closed, parents and guardians have difficulty continuing their work, as there is no place to which they can entrust the care of their children. It is important to step up measures to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus and support these front-line facilities.
Amid the spread of the virus, the number of new infections among people aged under 10 is also on the rise. More than 180 nursery schools across the country have reportedly been forced to close due to infections among children and certified nursery workers, among others.
Since the closure of nursery schools has a huge impact on parents and guardians, the government has called on nursery schools to avoid suspending their services to the greatest extent possible, by taking thorough measures to prevent the spread of the virus.
However, children under 12 are not eligible for vaccination, and wearing a mask is not recommended for those under 2 for reasons including the increased risk of suffocation. As physical contact is inevitable when caring for infants, it is undeniable that the nursery school environment makes it difficult to take measures against infection.
First of all, efforts must be made to prevent the infection of nursery workers.
Since July, the Nagoya municipal government has given nursery workers priority in receiving vaccinations. Most of the 10,000 nursery workers who wanted to get vaccinated have received their second shots, according to the city government.
An increasing number of local governments are making similar efforts, but vaccinations for that purpose have yet to make sufficient progress. The central government should take the initiative in expanding priority vaccinations to nursery workers as well as other schoolteachers and other personnel.
If a child shows symptoms suspected to be from a cold, many parents and guardians may wonder whether to let the child go to nursery school.
Starting this month, the Kanagawa prefectural government plans to start distributing antigen test kits, which can quickly determine whether a child is infected, to families with preschool infants or children, distributing them through nursery schools and other schools. It is hoped that this effort will lead to early examinations at medical institutions.
A system to fill staff vacancies should be established in advance to prevent nursery schools from closing, even if nursery workers are infected with the virus or are confirmed to have been in close contact with infected people.
The city of Amakusa in Kumamoto Prefecture has put in place a system to dispatch nursery workers from other facilities in the event of a shortage of such staff due to infections or other reasons. The system covers 48 public and private facilities, providing subsidies and PCR (polymerase chain reaction) tests to nursery schools that dispatched personnel for that purpose.
Companies need to make arrangements so that parents and guardians can readily take days off if the nursery schools attended by their children close. They should also respond to employees' circumstances as needed, such as by implementing flexible telecommuting.
The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry intends to reintroduce a system in which parents and guardians who take days off from work for reasons including the closure of nursery schools can receive subsidies directly. The original system was intended to help companies pay allowances to workers who were put on paid leave, but employees themselves can apply for the subsidies if companies do not use the system.
It is vital to make the restoration of the system widely known, so that many people can utilize it.
-- The original Japanese article appeared in The Yomiuri Shimbun on Sept. 8, 2021.
Read more from The Japan News at https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/
