ARTportunity Knocks, The Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning (DECAL) and the Georgia Department of Public Health (DPH) are committed to supporting early childhood learning during the COVID-19 pandemic.
CORONAVIRUS DISEASE 2019 (COVID-19)
Our top priority is always the health and safety of all children, their families, and the ARTportunity Knocks workforce. We appreciate your patience and understanding as we work through the many questions and issues related to this unprecedented public health emergency. For the latest updates, please follow these sites: Governor’s Office, GA Department of Public Health, and CDC.
ARTportunity Knocks Learning Pod Requirements:
- Stay home if you are sick!
- Masks are MANDATORY
- Wash your hands often with soap and warm water for at least 20 seconds. If soap and water are not available, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer.
- Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands.
- Cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue, then dispose of the tissue in the trash.
- Avoid close contact with people who are sick.
- Get a flu shot!
- Clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces.
- Notify ARTportunity Knocks staff, if child or family member tests positive for COVID-19
Drop-off/Arrival Procedures
ARTportunity Knocks facilities are required to:
☐ Restrict families’ access to the front door of the facility or the door of their respective child’s classroom only
☐ Sign children in and out of the facility for families if a computer or keypad system inside the facility is used. If a tablet located outside the facility is used by families during drop-off and pick-up, the tablet must be disinfected after each use. If a paper sign-in system is used for sign-in, writing utensils should be sanitized after each use, if families are permitted to sign children in themselves.
Child or Staff with Symptoms (No Testing and Not Linked to Positive Case)
When a child or staff member has symptoms, they will immediately be sent home and the childcare facilities’ existing illness management policy should be implemented (e.g., child cannot return until symptom-free for 24 hours without fever reducing medications).
Returning to ARTportunity Knocks
ARTportunity Knocks facilities are required to:
☐ Enforce staff and children stay home if:
● They have tested positive for OR are showing COVID-19 symptoms, until they meet DPH’s “Return to ARTportunity Knocks facility Guidance After COVID-19 Illness or Exposure”.
● They have recently had close contact with a person with COVID-19, until the meet DPH’s “Return to ARTportunity Knocks facility Guidance After COVID-19 Illness or Exposure”.
● A COVID-19 outbreak in a ARTportunity Knocks facility setting will be defined as: Two or more laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 cases among children or staff with illness onsets within a 14-day period, who are epidemiologically linked (e.g., have a common exposure or have been in contact with each other), do not share a household, and were not identified as close contacts of each other in another setting during standard case investigation or contact tracing.