PORTLAND — As Oregon schools close next week, child care regulators are considering whether to let some day care providers take in more children than currently allowed.
Oregon has 30 confirmed cases of the coronavirus, including eight that have been diagnosed in the past two days among residents of a veterans’ nursing home in the town of Lebanon, about 80 miles south of Portland.
Oregon schools will close Monday and remain closed until April 1. Oregon students already have spring break for one of those weeks. Oregon has also banned all gatherings of more than 250 people statewide for four weeks.
The Office of Child Care told providers that it will process emergency requests to operate outside of licensing limits, in an attempt to address both an increased demand for care and potential staffing shortages, according to The Oregonian/OregonLive.
The conflicting forces are driven by the spread of coronavirus and government efforts to slow the disease.
With parents at work, the statewide school shutdown could shift children from classrooms to day care. Child care regulators have received 100 calls since Thursday about urgent child care needs, said Melanie Mesaros, a spokeswoman for the Office of Child Care.
“In a state of emergency, we are trying to balance the real needs of working families and the safety of children,” she said.
The Washington County Sheriff’s Office announced Saturday that its jail is suspending social visits until further notice.
Multnomah County closed its libraries Friday and the sheriff’s office ended visitation in its two jails.
Oregon Chief Justice Martha L. Walters also issued recommendations to the state’s trial courts to postpone trials that are not time sensitive due to the coronavirus.
