“Unfortunately, we cannot expand our available services as long as we remain in Phase 1 and HPCON Charlie,” said Col. Paul Burger, 88th Mission Support Group commander. “We will continue to service our mission-essential population and a small portion of other families based on DoD’s childcare priority list until the determination is made to open additional classrooms.”
As conditions change, the 88th Force Support Squadron works to maintain an open dialog with parents and sponsors to ensure they are equipped with the latest information.
The CDCs are currently operating at a reduced ratio with six children per classroom with mandatory mask wearing for caregivers along with social distancing where practical. Protecting the staff is of utmost importance for the CDCs as the availability of staff is directly tied to the level of service the facilities are able to provide.
Burger said his 88th Force Support Squadron leadership is in constant contact with Public Health officials about operations at the CDCs yet he cautioned that just one positive case can shut one or more of the facilities down.
Protocols put in place to further protect the children and staff have been successful in preventing large scale closures.
“The last option for us is to close down any CDC facility,” Burger explained. “We operate with an abundance of caution when it comes to protecting our staff and children. As most of you have seen in two recent episodes, positive cases at our Wright Field North and South facilities resulted in closures, affecting both staff and children.”
“Our hard work enforcing CDC and Public Health guidelines is paying off,” Burger continued. “In our most recent case, Public Health officials determined CDC leadership and staff utilized appropriate precautions (i.e. cohorting, social distancing and mask wear) resulting in only a few classrooms being temporarily closed versus an entire facility.”
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