Coronablog – Half more infections in the working population, NMBS past offer
The number of childcare locations for young children that have closed their doors due to corona infections has doubled in a week. Kind & Gezin reports this. “Last week, 13.3 percent of all reception centers in Flanders were closed for at least one day, while 5 percent were still closed during the week before. A rapid increase,” says Nele Wouters of Kind & Gezin.
After the Christmas holidays, the number of crèches, childminders and out-of-school care places that close for at least one day did not remain limited. But it has become outdated in a short time, Kind & Gezin concludes.
“We already received the signal that it would increase, because the number of reports had risen very sharply,” said spokeswoman Nele Wouters. “We had almost 1,000 reports of infections and high-risk contacts, which was almost double from a week earlier.”
And that number of reports has therefore led to a doubling of the number of closures. From 5 percent in the week of January 10, to 13.3 percent in the week of January 17. “It has been 5 December since we had such a high percentage,” says Nele Wouters.
“Back then, 12.9 percent was closed for at least one day. At that time, the impact was also very large on the daycare and all the parents involved.” So the impact is now huge. “We therefore hope that the peak has now been reached and that we can quickly move towards a decline,” concludes Nele Wouters.