A total of 44 per cent of settings have not yet reopened following lockdown. Only an estimated two fifths (40 per cent) of childcare places were filled in the nurseries that did reopen.
The snapshot survey of 91 out of 148 nursery sites across the country also found that:
The requirements in response to the Covid-19 pandemic are making business less sustainable for nursery providers with the majority of respondents (86 per cent) saying that managing ‘bubbles’ of a maximum of eight children will impact on their staffing.
NDNA chief executive Purnima Tanuku said that the priority for providers is the safety and well-being of children and staff but warned that the viability of early years settings is being threatened.
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