Mr. Toby Wolfe:

To be clear, the advice that is being given to providers on public health is from the Health Protection Surveillance Centre, HPSC, within the HSE, so it is evidence-based advice. The HPSC has looked at the specific context of the childcare sector in terms of the risks around children and the evidence relating to coronavirus in children. It has also taken into account the regulatory context of the sector. This is a sector that is well used to infection control measures and it is regulated.

The advice it has given is to have measures in place to reduce the risk of infections coming into centres. That means, for example, if a child or an adult has symptoms, he or she does not attend. There is also the notion of play pods whereby children and adults are kept in small groups that do not interact with each other. That reduces the risk of the spread of infection. The HPSC also has quite comprehensive advice on infection control, cleaning of toys and equipment and so forth. There is quite substantial guidance from it.