Survey looks to track COVID-19 cases in childcare facilities

WINNIPEG -

A pair of Manitoba university academics – who are also mothers - have launched an online survey to track COVID-19 in early learning and childcare facilities.

The project is a team-up between Aleeza Gerstein, an assistant professor of microbiology and statistics, and Lauren Kelly, an assistant professor of pharmacology and therapeutics at the University of Manitoba.

The goal of the survey is to use the information to advocate for better resources for the childcare sector.

"Reading through some of the answers, I think hits really hard for me about how stressed and frustrated and kind of at their wits' end many people in the childcare sector are feeling," said Gerstein.

The survey asks about vaccination rates, positive cases and about staff who are forced to isolate.

The data will be grouped in periods before and after Dec. 15 to show how much the situation has changed.

"Parents need evidence to make decisions and I think that's something that's also been missing," said Kelly.

"We don't have a dashboard here. We haven't been reporting data on childcare centers and that's been okay because we've had low numbers in childcare facilities and that's just not the case anymore."

The team said 246 people responded to the survey on the first day, representing about 13,000 children and 3,000 staff.

Data will be collected until Sunday, with results expected mid-next week.