A second employee and a child from Colac’s Wydinia Kindergarten and Early Learning Centre have tested positive to COVID-19 today.
The centre will remain closed until further notice while its operator BCYF discusses its next steps with state health authorities.
BCYF chief Sandy Morrison said Wydinia would waive gap fees for Early Learning Centre families for the fortnight starting this week during the closure.
Wydinia had initially closed for three days when a staff member returned a positive test on the weekend.
Mr Morrison provided the following statement to the Colac Herald this afternoon:
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Where To Buy“Today the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) confirmed that a child and a second staff member at Wydinia Kindergarten and Early Learning Centre have tested positive to coronavirus (COVID-19). Following advice from DHHS, the service has been closed and will remain closed until further notice.
The thoughts and concerns of all of us at BCYF are with the three people, and their respective families, who have been impacted by this news, and we wish them all the best in their recovery. Our Early Years Management team remain in close contact with the Wydinia staff and families and are available to provide any support they may require at this time.
While we understand that this news will be concerning for our Wydinia and Colac community, the health, safety and wellbeing of our staff, children and families remains our main priority. We have conducted a deep clean of the service and will continue to work with the DHHS to undertake a full risk assessment and support contact tracing before any consideration is given to re-opening the facility.
During the closure, BCYF will be waiving the gap fee for Early Learning Centre families for the period Monday 31 August to Friday 11 September 2020.
We will continue to follow advice from DHHS and the Department of Education and Training (DET) and to keep families updated as we receive further information.
We thank our Early Learning Centre and Kindergarten staff and families for their continued support and their collective efforts to keep our Early Childhood services and Colac community safe.”