Since reopening child care at the end of May, Ohio has participated in two significant research studies on the spread of COVID-19 in child care settings. The results of both studies found that child care did not lead to an increased risk for contracting COVID-19.
In October, Yale University released their findings from a survey of nearly 100,000 child care educators across the nation, including more than 5,000 in Ohio. This study found the work of child care providers to sanitize, wash hands, stay masked, and social distance greatly impacted the safety of children in their care.
The Ohio Bureau of Workers Compensation also commissioned a study of Ohio child care facilities through the Case Western Reserve University (Case Western). The results of this study will be released soon, confirming the findings of the Yale study.
Through parent and child care worker surveys and interviews; symptom tracking of workers, children, and parents; and hundreds of COVID-19 tests of child care workers and families from August to November 2020, researchers from Case Western found no link between child care and an increased risk of contracting COVID-19. In fact, just 2 asymptomatic positives were found among the nearly 400 COVID-19 tests, which is a positivity rate of just 0.5%.