SYRACUSE, N.Y. (WSYR-TV)– It’s a passion Monique Taylor has been doing for 12 years now, being a group daycare provider on Syracuse’s southside, but since the pandemic began it’s been a rollercoaster.
“Well it’s been up and down.”
Monique taylor, group daycare provider
Trying to keep kids socially distanced and not spread germs is a challenge family daycare provider, Ella Tong, can relate to.
“It’s very hard for them to keep their masks on, you have to talk to them all the time, little bit, put their mask on for them, it’s not easy,” Tong said.
It hasn’t been easy getting access to at-home COVID-19 test kits either, but as more shipments arrive from the state, Onondaga County is providing daycares with a portion.
Four thousand test kits were delivered to Child Care Solutions to be distributed among hundreds of daycares across the county.
“As you can imagine the test kits are like gold in the community. They are really, really hard to access and particularly for childcare providers that are caring for children all day that are not able to go out during the hours that they’re typically distributing free tests in the community.”
Lori Schakow, Executive Director Child Care Solutions
The 4,000 test kits were divided up based on the size of the daycare, but due to a limited supply, not every child is guaranteed a test.
“We basically took all of the test kits that the county gave to us and then tried to as equitably as possible distribute them among those programs,” Schakow said.
Child Care Solutions is encouraging the providers to use a test kit for themselves and their partner to ensure they are healthy and then send the rest of the kits home with families.
And the daycare providers couldn’t be happier to have these kits in hand, especially for their youngest kids who still don’t have access to the vaccine.
“It’s good because we need them to have right on hand,” Taylor said.
Helping to ensure your little one is healthy and safe.
