Nursery World - Coronavirus: Survey reveals 'serious concerns' among early years workers about their safety

Early years workers are experiencing ‘high’ levels of cases of Covid-19, with around half of them worried about their safety working in nurseries, pre-schools and as childminders, according to new research.

The NEU and Unison say that early years settings should be closed in line with schools

The findings come from an online survey of the early years workforce carried out jointly by the Early Years Alliance and independent sector analysts Ceeda.

They highlight that around one in 10 staff working in early years settings have tested positive for Covid since 1 December.

The Government has asked nurseries, pre-schools and childminders to stay open to all children during the current national lockdown, while schools are closed, except to key worker and vulnerable children.

The Ceeda analysis of the survey findings shows that early years staff are much more likely than children to test positive for Covid, which could lead to thousands of providers closing in the coming weeks because of staff shortages.

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