Download or read the draft letter to parents for a suspected case of Covid-19
This document does not constitute legal advice and is no substitute for reading governmental guidance on Covid-19 and best practice in full. You should consult with the authorities and your legal advisers about the return of children, staff and visitors to pre-schools.
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Dear Parent/Guardian,
We are writing to advise you that we have identified a possible suspected case of Covid-19 within [Childcare Setting] attended by your child. The purpose of this letter is to provide you with information about what you may expect next.
We would like to start by outlining the responsibilities of the different agencies in this situation.
We provide the childcare setting and we aim to ensure as far as possible that the setting remains free from infection. We are not a specialist public health team and we need to rely on the advice we receive from public health specialists in the event of a suspected case.
As we have identified a possible infection we are working with local Public Health staff of the HSE to discuss the case, identify people who have been in contact with them and advise on any actions or precautions that should be taken. [An assessment of our childcare setting will be undertaken by HSE public health staff and advice on the management of children and staff who came into contact with the case will be based on this assessment] OR [HSE public health staff have assessed our childcare setting and have advised as follows: ] AS APPROPRIATE.
The HSE Public Health staff will also be in contact individually with anyone who has been in contact with the case to provide them with appropriate advice.
We would remind you of the current guidance issued by the government generally in relation to COVID-19.
- All individuals with symptoms of COVID-19 should contact their GP for further advice;
- If the doctor arranges testing for them, they (or their parent) will be contacted by Public Health to identify anyone who has been in contact with them during the period when they were likely to have been infectious;
- Symptomatic people should self-isolate and arrange to get tested for COVID-19;
- Confirmed COVID-19 cases should continue to self-isolate at home for a minimum of 14 days and should not return to the childcare setting until they are advised that it is safe to do so;
- Close contacts of a confirmed case should go home and restrict their movements for 14 days. They should not attend the childcare facility during that time and may need to stay away for longer depending on the advice from the Public Health Staff;
- They will be offered testing for COVID-19 and will need to stay away from the childcare centre for 14 days even if the virus is not detected on the tests. This is because some people who are infected do not have a positive test at the time the test was taken. They may need to stay away for longer depending on the advice from the Public Health Staff.
If and when it is safe to return to the childcare setting depends on the advice provided by the Public Health Staff. At present that advice is [AS ADVISED BY PUBLIC HEALTH TEAM].
We do not release personal information relating to individual cases. You may access our Privacy Policy here. [LINK]
In light of the present situation we aim to be in touch with you regularly to give you updates.
For further information, please contact [LINK/EMAIL].
Kind regards,
[insert name / signature]
