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THIS WEEK'S
HEADLINES
NEWS IMPACTING CHILDREN 0-5 AND THEIR FAMILIES
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Here is a quick look at some headlines from this week impacting the lives of kids 0-5 and their families. The purpose of these stories is simply to inform, and they do not necessarily reflect First 5 Kern's areas of support or efforts towards these issues.
Follow First 5 Kern on social media (@First5Kern) for more kids news, as well as information about our funded programs and initiatives.
Now for the headlines........
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EARLY CHILDCARE & EDUCATION
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CHILD CARE CENTERS ARE POISED FOR REOPENING, BUT WILL THE CHILDREN ATTEND?
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For some parents, the news that day care centers can operate again couldn't come soon enough. But for others, sending their child back now feels too risky, too costly or too complicated. As a result, day care centers are scrambling to open their doors with expensive new health protocols, while contending with the possibility of having fewer parents pay tuition.
"We are completely ready. But I'm concerned that kids just won't be coming in," said one child care provider. "Parents are scared of bringing their kids in. Many are still at home. They don't need us — they don't need a day care." (NBC News)
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SWEDEN'S HEALTH AGENCY SAID OPEN SCHOOLS DID NOT SPUR PANDEMIC SPREAD
Sweden’s decision to keep schools open during the pandemic resulted in no higher rate of infection among its schoolchildren than in neighbouring Finland, where schools did temporarily close, their public health agencies said in a joint report.
“In conclusion, (the) closure or not of schools had no measurable direct impact on the number of laboratory confirmed cases in school-aged children in Finland or Sweden,” the report said. (Reuters)
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NEARLY 1,000 COVID-19 CASES REPORTED IN CALIF. CHILD CARES
It’s the phone call that child care facilities have been dreading since the pandemic began. Two siblings who attended Early Horizons in Sunnyvale had tested positive for COVID-19.
“They didn’t have any symptoms,” said Antonio Labrador, the director of the center. The kids’ parents felt some symptoms on June 24 but dropped their children off at the day care anyway. (NBC Bay Area)
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COMMENTARY IN
PEDIATRICS
: CHILDREN DON'T TRANSMIT COVID
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A commentary published in the journal
Pediatrics
, the official peer-reviewed journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, concludes that children infrequently transmit COVID-19 to each other or to adults and that many schools, provided they follow appropriate social distancing guidelines and take into account rates of transmission in their community, can and should reopen in the fall. (Medical Xpress)
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FDA WARNING ON HAND SANITIZERS WITH METHANOL
FDA is warning consumers and health care providers that the agency has seen a sharp increase in
hand sanitizer products
that are labeled to contain ethanol (also known as ethyl alcohol) but that have tested positive for methanol contamination.
Methanol, or wood alcohol, is a substance that can be toxic when absorbed through the skin or ingested and can be life-threatening when ingested. (FDA.gov)
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STU
DY AIMS TO BOLSTER SAFE WATER EFFORTS IN CHILD CARE FACILITIES
Efforts to ensure safe drinking water for children need further support, according to an analysis of California’s mandate requiring child care facilities to test their water for lead, known as AB 2370.
“We’ve learned from a similar program in California’s schools that if robust monitoring and funding doesn’t exist, much of the needed testing and remediation won’t be implemented,” said the lead author of the study. (UCLA)
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SURVEY FINDS 27% OF PARENTS EXPECT TO QUIT THEIR JOBS TO TAKE CARE OF THEIR CHILDREN
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At the early stage of the coronavirus pandemic in April, only 6% of people who responded to a survey said they planned to leave the workforce because of the pressures of parenting amid the coronavirus crisis. But in a second iteration of that survey
published Tuesday
, a full 27% of respondents said they now planned to
leave work.
Cleo, an employee benefits platform that provides services like lactation consulting and mental-health support to parents of young children, surveyed 136 parents of children under 5 years old across 11 of its corporate clients. Balancing never-ending childcare with the pressures of work through the coronavirus pandemic has turned out to be harder than parents expected. (Fortune)
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TO PROTECT CHILDREN DURING COVID, WE MUST REACH VULNERABLE FAMILIES EARLY
Every parent is struggling with life during coronavirus. My heart breaks when I think about the emotional impact our new normal has had on my 10-year-old daughter, stuck in the house with her parents, missing her friends and the rhythms of daily life.
Families have been making stressful adjustments to keep deadly infection at bay. But the truth is that families throughout our country have been waging life or death struggles since well before March 2020. (The Hill)
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'I SEE RACISM EVERY DAY,' THIS PEDIATRICIAN SAYS
As a pediatrician, I know racism is a significant public health crisis because I see racism every day.
How do I see racism? I see it in the disparities in infant deaths in our neighborhoods, in our cities and in our state.
Black infants die
two to three times more often than white infants. It's been this way for generations. Why should that be? How can we fix it? (US News & World Report)
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BABY BOY INFECTED WITH CORONAVIRUS IN THE WOMB
Doctors in
France
have reported what they believe to be the first proven case of Covid-19 being passed on from a pregnant woman to her baby in the womb.
The newborn boy developed inflammation in the brain within days of being born, a condition brought on after the virus crossed the placenta and established an infection prior to birth. He has since made a good recovery. (The Guardian)
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BABIES' MYSTERIOUS RESILIENCE TO CORONAVIRUS INTRIGUES SCIENTISTS
COVID-19 is often mild in infants. Learning why could help scientists better understand the disease—and point the way toward possible treatments.
As the new coronavirus continues to burn through populations, studies are beginning to shed light on its impact on infants. And so far the findings have been promising for parents and researchers alike. (Scientific American)
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IN THE NICU, BOTH PARENTS ARE ESSENTIAL
Having a medically fragile infant is traumatic and highly stressful. The pandemic of an easily spread and deadly virus has made this situation even harder. When Covid-19 hit, decision-makers had no choice but to enforce restrictive policies. One widely instituted policy was to strictly limit visitors.
That might be good for infection control, but it goes against everything we know about caring for sick newborns. (STAT)
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POT USE IN PREGNANCY COULD MEAN SLEEPLESS KIDS
Kids whose moms used pot while pregnant may end up with sleep problems years later, a new study suggests.
Looking at thousands of 9- and 10-year-olds, University of Colorado researchers found that children were more likely to have trouble falling asleep or staying asleep if their mother had used marijuana prenatally. (US News & World Report)
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First 5 Kern was established in 1998 when California voters passed Proposition 10, which levied a 50-cent tax on tobacco products. Revenues generated from the tobacco tax are used to fund local programs in the areas of health and wellness, early childcare and education, and parent education and support services that promote early childhood development for children ages zero to five.
For more information on First 5 Kern and the agencies we support, please visit
www.First5Kern.org
and follow us on social media.
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Special thanks to
Vecteezy
for assistance on graphics
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