COVID-19

Since the closure of our club services in March due to COVID-19 we have been looking at how we can safely re-open The MAIN Centre to groups (we have still been open for PA support throughout the pandemic) when permitted to do so whilst complying with Government guidelines and maintaining a safe environment for our staff and service users.

If the current progress in fighting the virus continues as predicted and the infection rate goes down we plan to re-open our clubs to children only (for the time being) to coincide with the school summer holidays.

We will be implementing the following procedures:

Admission times to our clubs will be staggered at 5-minute intervals to maintain safe distancing.

Queuing markings will be made on the paved area outside the centre at 2 metres intervals to accommodate families to queue at a safe distance.  Access via the gate next to the car park and play area.  Whenever possible only one parent/carer should come with their child to centre to reduce the chances of spreading the virus.

Families will access the centre by the front door into the alternative education room.  Temperatures of all staff and children will be taken using contactless infrared thermometers.  If a fever is detected, admission will not be permitted.

 Should the reading indicate that the temperature is below fever level children will be supported by a member of staff to wash their hands in the accessible bathroom (in line with current guidelines).  They will then access the centre.  Parents/carers at this point will exit the building through the same front door and out of the gate opposite the front door.

 The centre is now split into two rooms to reduce the chances of transmission:

 Groups will be a maximum of 15: made up of just nine service users and six staff including a facilitator.  This is lower than the Government recommendations for schools and our rooms are larger than most classrooms.

 Weather permitted, service users will be scheduled to access our fully enclosed, accessible outdoor play area as there is less likelihood of the virus being transmitted in the open air.

 In addition, we have taken the following measures:

• Despite not having had an outbreak at the centre, the building has been fogged.  This procedure kills the virus within a few seconds and lasts for 30 days.  We have engaged the cleaning company to have the centre treated every 28 days for the next six months to maintain a continuous infection control measure throughout that period.  In addition, staff will continue to clean their own work area throughout the course of their shifts and we have increased the services of our regular cleaning contractor.
• Children will also be supported to wash their hands at half-hour intervals during the session, following Government guidelines.
• Children will be encouraged to follow safe distancing measures and follow other COVID-19 infection control guidelines whilst in the centre.
• Appropriate COVID-19 related signage will be in place, as will adequate supplies of tissues and bins. 
• All staff have untaken mandatory COVID-19 specific training; have had a COVID-19 Tool Box Talk and read the COVID-19 risk assessment prepared by an independent Health and Safety company.  MAIN has a specific COVID-19 policy in place.
• MAIN will provide staff with relevant PPE in line with Government guidelines.
• Staff will be vigilant in observing possible signs of the virus and reporting should they have concerns. 

We believe the steps we have taken to protect staff and service users exceed the Government requirements and we hope that in taking such measures we will significantly reduce the risk of infection.

As a forum, we wrote to the MP’s for Stockton North and Stockton South regarding the concerns that we had with the coronavirus bill. Alex Cunningham (MP Stockton North) has responded to our concerns.

More information about the bill and why we were writing to him can be found in our most recent blog post here