Essential, dedicated and struggling

We have launched a video series that will give you an inside look at Westchester's child care system. You will hear directly from the people who care for our youngest learners at the most crucial time in their lives, and from parents and children.

During the current COVID-19 pandemic, there have been reported cases of children diagnosed with Pediatric Multi-System Inflammatory Syndrome.

Most children who get COVID-19 experience only mild symptoms. This inflammatory syndrome has symptoms similar to Kawasaki disease and toxic shock-like syndrome, possibly due to COVID-19.

Today is National Child Care Provider Appreciation Day! Of course, here at the Council, we are amazed and grateful every day for all you do to teach, nurture and protect the little ones in your care. This year is unlike any other with the COVID-19 emergency, and once again, you have shown the lengths to which you will go to care for our children and their families.

So we thought about it - what gesture is big enough to convey the depth of our gratitude today? Only a parade would do!

As New York State aggressively expands COVID-19 diagnostic testing capacity, the Department of Health has revised guidance to increase testing for frontline workers, including all first responders, health care workers, and essential employees who interact with the public, while continuing to prioritize resources. Testing for COVID-19 shall be authorized by a health care provider for individuals who meet one or more of the following criteria:

• * An individual is symptomatic or has a history of symptoms of COVID-19 (e.g. fever, cough, and/or trouble breathing), particularly if the individual is 70 years of age or older, the individual has a compromised immune system, or the
• individual has an underlying health condition; or
• * An individual has had close (i.e. within six feet) or proximate contact with a person known to be positive with COVID-19; or
• * An individual is subject to a precautionary or mandatory quarantine; or
• * An individual is employed as a health care worker, first responder, or other essential worker who directly interacts with the public while working; or
• * An individual presents with a case where the facts and circumstances – as determined by the treating clinician in consultation with state or local department of health officials – warrant testing.