Nursery World - Coronavirus: Early years staff absences fall while cases in children grow

While the number of nursery staff off with Covid has largely fallen, the percentage of children with the virus has increased, new data suggests.

Children under five who are identified as close contacts are exempt from self- isolation and do not need to take part in daily testing of close contacts PHOTO Adobe Stock

The latest statistics from the National Day Nurseries Association’s (NDNA) reveals on average, 15 per cent of early years staff in the UK who responded to its weekly Covid absence survey were off due to the virus the week commencing 17 January.

This is down from 22 per cent two weeks prior. However, the findings cannot be directly compared as the latest survey received more responses.

A total of 624 settings across England, Scotland and Wales took part in the latest survey, while 471 settings responded for the week commencing 3 January.

Despite a slight drop in the number of staff off with the virus, the data for 17 January, released today, suggests the number of children with Coronavirus is rising.

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