This means that all doctors in England are required to notify their local council or local Health Protection Team if they suspect a patient has Monkeypox. Laboratories must also notify the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) if the virus is identified in a laboratory sample.
The move is intended to help manage the spread of the virus following a rise in the number of cases in the UK and globally. As of Monday 6 June, there were 302 confirmed cases of Monkeypox in the UK. However, the UKHSA continues to maintain that the risk to the general public ‘remains low’.
Grandir, which operates 50 nurseries including the Kiddi Caru settings, said it has written Monkeypox into the group’s policy now that it is a notifiable disease. As per NHS guidance, Grandir would exclude a child with the virus from its nurseries until any scabs are dry and healed - similar to chickenpox.
The NHS advises anyone with a confirmed case of Monkeypox to isolate. For those with a ‘mild case’, the advice is to isolate at home.
Claiming on insurance
It is unclear whether childcare businesses will be able to make a claim through their insurance if they are affected by Monkeypox, as they could when Covid-19 was included on the Government’s list of notifiable diseases back in March 2020.
However, as previously reported by Nursery World, most insurance policies do not include cover for notifiable diseases, or only include cover for some of them.
When Nursery World contacted insurer Morton Michel, it said its 'insurance policies do not provide coverage for communicable diseases.'
The insurer stated, 'The emergence of new notifiable diseases will not be picked up by insurance contracts that operate a specified diseases list. Post-emergence of Covid insurers and re-insurers have moved to reduce the ambiguity in contracts providing elements of cover for business interruption, liability and accident events whilst they are still coming to terms with the extent of losses paid where cover was afforded.
'Many insurers have either updated their contracts to remove cover for communicable diseases in their entirety or added further limitations to these elements of cover for communicable diseases. Morton Michel’s childcare insurance products, underwritten by Covéa Insurance Plc. do not provide coverage for communicable diseases. Childcare businesses who are concerned should speak to their insurers or brokers directly.'
