The Government of Ontario is planning to open select childcare centres across the province for frontline and emergency workers.
On Sunday morning, the province announced that it plans to exempt certain child care centres from the order to close all licensed child care centres in accordance with the state of emergency declared on Tuesday in Ontario.
Healthcare and other frontline workers, including doctors, nurses, paramedics, firefighters, police and correctional officers, will be able to access the emergency service during the COVID-19 pandemic.
"We need to help our nurses, doctors and frontline care workers to be able to focus on protecting the health and well-being of all Ontarians," said Christine Elliott, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health. "By allowing select child care centres to open their doors during these challenging times, our province's courageous frontline workers can rest assured knowing that their families are also being looked after."
Provincial health officials are ensuring that required safety protocols will be followed and a plan will be in place should any staff, children or parents be exposed to the virus.
"During this unprecedented situation, we need to do everything we can to ensure our health care and other frontline staff have the support they need to continue to work," said Stephen Lecce, Minister of Education. "At the same time, we need to protect the safety of the staff and children at these centres. For that reason, we are putting strict measures in place, such as restricting the types of centres that can re-open and keeping the number of children in any one centre low."
A list of locations will be made available at the Government of Ontario website.