Nursery World - Concern as reports of Covid in early years settings more than double in a week

Reported incidences of Covid-19 in early years settings have more than doubled in a week, according to the latest Ofsted numbers.

Nurseries must notify Ofsted if there has been a positive test for Covid-19 in their setting, but the data does not show the number of positive cases among staff and children, which means there could be multiple cases

There were 1,267 reported Covid cases in early years setting in England in the week beginning Monday 4 January, a steep rise from the 582 cases reported a week earlier.

In response to the data, both the Early Years Alliance and National Day Nurseries Association (NDNA) have called for urgent action to protect the early years workforce. They have reiterated their demand for all providers to have access to proper testing kits, rather than ill-defined ‘priority’ access at community testing centres, and for early years practitioners to be prioritised as a key occupation for the vaccination programme.

While the data represents the number of settings that have notified Ofsted of coronavirus, it does not reflect the actual number of positive cases which may be multiple, meaning that the numbers of children and practitioners affected are likely to be higher.

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