Canberra childcare centre Covid exposure 'concerning' to health authorities

Children and adults at Goodstart Early Learning in Turner on August 11 between 10.20am and 10.40am, and also from 5pm to 5.30pm are considered close contacts and are required to quarantine for 14 days.

Deputy Chief Health Officer Dr Vanessa Johnston confirmed the case was not a child but said the exposure location was concerning.

"The fact that there might be exposure at that site I guess is as concerning as the school sites that we've seen, in that you can have a scenario where a lot of people can be exposed," Dr Johnston said.

"And because it's an early childcare centre, the amount of physical distancing that the staff can do at that centre can be limited. So it's one of our sites that we are concerned about."

A Goodstart Early Learning spokeswoman said the Turner centre was closed on Wednesday after they were notified that an adult who had visited the centre tested positive for COVID-19.

"We are working closely with ACT Health who have given our team members and families priority access to testing. The centre will be deep cleaned and will reopen once ACT health give the necessary clearance," the spokeswoman said.

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The other Goodstart centres remain open for children of essential workers and vulnerable children in line with government directives.

The not-for-profit organisation follows a Covid roadmap to keep its 671 centres safe, which involves good hand hygiene, physical distancing, regular touch point cleaning, check in proceedures, ventilation and using external or foyer drop-offs and pick ups.

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