It is important that approved providers prepare for managing a confirmed case as part of their service’s COVID-19 risk mitigation strategy.
Below is an outline of the process should a child, family member, educator or staff member test positive for COVID-19 and steps you can take now to prepare.
Reporting confirmed cases of COVID-19
Queensland Service providers do not need to notify the Regulatory Authority of a confirmed case of COVID-19 in educators, staff, children or families due to a temporary pause to requirements under regulation 175(2)(c).
Update emergency contact details
Service providers are to review their emergency contact details, as part of their business continuity planning. Make sure your service’s emergency contact details are up-to-date by:
Managing illness
Children or staff showing signs of illness or feeling unwell must stay at home.
Further information regarding managing illness during COVID-19 is available on the department’s COVID case management page.
If a child is showing signs of illness, the service will contact the parent or carer to collect them.
For guidance on when to send unwell children, educators or staff home from early childhood services, read the National Health and Medical Research Councils (NHMRC) preventing infectious diseases in early childhood education and care services.
Confirmed cases and close contacts
Anyone who tests positive for COVID-19 or is a close contact must follow
Queensland Health advice.
When determining whether someone is a
close contact, early childhood education and care services (including family day care) are not considered a household or household-like accommodation or care facility. Therefore, facilities can continue to operate within COVID safe guidelines and staff and children do not need to
quarantine unless directed by Queensland Health.
Please refer to the Queensland Health website for requirements to enable critically essential workers to attend their workplace if they are a close contact.
For anyone who
tests positive for COVID-19, once they have completed their
period of isolation and no longer have symptoms, they are free to return to their early childhood service. They do not need to produce a negative test before they can return.
Communication
It is important for services to keep educators and staff, families and any other visitors up-to-date, including if your service needs to close due to COVID-19.
Notification of closure or reduced numbers
If your regulated service closes due to COVID-19 or has to reduce service numbers, the approved provider must immediately:
- notify the Department of Education in Queensland via the NQA ITS (for services regulated under the National Quality Framework)
- notify the Department of Education in Queensland via the ECEC Emergency Closures mailbox: ececemergencyclosures@qed.qld.gov.au (for services regulated under Queensland's
Education and Care Services Act 2013)
- notify the Australian Government Department of Education Skills and Employment (ChildCare Subsidy payments) via email at CCSAssessments-QLD@dese.gov.au
- notify Workplace Health and Safety Queensland on 1300 362 128.
If your service has notified of a COVID-19 related closure via the NQA ITS and requires written evidence of this from the Queensland Regulatory Authority for the purposes of accessing Commonwealth funding assistance (i.e. gap fee waiver), please email
ececemergencyclosures@qed.qld.gov.au.
Please note: Queensland services do not need to notify confirmed cases of COVID-19, only service closures and other notifiable matters.
Reopening
You must notify the relevant stakeholders, such as educators and staff. This includes updating your service's open/closed status on the relevant portal.
More information
Read more about
managing COVID-19 in the workplace on the Queensland Health website.