The Greater Victoria School District has announced that they are now providing school care for children of essential service workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The program provides care along with learning opportunities for students that are currently enrolled in SD61, and prioritizes families who are tier one service workers, which includes health services, emergency responders, law enforcement, and social service workers.
See also: B.C. launches portal to match essential workers with child care spaces for children under age 5
These services have been made available for school-aged children that are 5 to 12 years old, and will operate at 13 schools across the Greater Victoria region from Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. each day.
To determine how many families required the school care, the District recently conducted an online survey that was sent out to parents and guardians.
Approximately 80 children have been registered for the program, which has been operating for the past two weeks.
“We need to support our frontline workers as they continue to protect us and maintain essential services that keep our community functioning,” said Superintendent Shelley Green.
“Our schools are open to serve the families whose parents or guardians are in critical roles— and we are putting forward every effort to ensure these students have a safe and positive experience in our care.”
If you are an essential service worker and require childcare for your school-aged child, you can contact the district at community@sd61.bc.ca.
See all the latest updates about the global COVID-19 pandemic on Vancouver Island
The BCCDC has set up a 2019 novel coronavirus telephone information line at 1-833-784-4397 for those who have further questions about this disease.
Anyone concerned that they may have been exposed to, or are experiencing symptoms of the novel coronavirus, should contact their primary care provider, local public health office, or call 8-1-1.
The Province has also created the 1-888-COVID-19 line to connect British Columbians needing non-medical information about the coronavirus pandemic.
As of the time of publication, the total number of COVID-19 patients worldwide has risen to 2,223,240.
Over 152,300 people have died from the illness and 567,279 have made a full recovery.
