Calls to extend exemptions to self-isolation in support of critical workers’ children
More than half the nurseries in the north-west of England have been forced into a partial or full closure since the start of the summer, according to figures that highlight a Covid childcare crisis in parts of the country.
As many as 58% of providers surveyed in the region said that they had to close or partially close since the beginning of June, as high Covid case numbers saw staff or groups of children forced into isolation at home. More than half of providers in Yorkshire and the Humber, as well as the south-west, also said they had to at least partially close at least once.