Thomas Breen Photo
Rev. Steele: “An ongoing inequality issue.”
In the latest City Hall attempt to limit the spread of COVID-19, Mayor Justin Elicker Monday ordered the closure of childcare centers serving more than 12 children.
He did so by an emergency order.
The order makes an exception: centers “may provide childcare services for any child whose parent or legal guardian is employed as a healthcare provider.”
“In a continued effort to protect the health of our residents, I am ordering that all daycare and childcare centers close as a result of the growing public health emergency surrounding COVID-19. We are still allowing childcare facilities to provide care for healthcare workers,” a press release quotes Elicker as saying.
“We have already closed public schools to prevent people from gathering. While children appear to be less likely to get seriously sick, they still can spread the virus, and therefore we believe it is critical from a public health perspective to close daycare and childcare centers as well. I realize that this will add another burden to families and care providers. We have weighed this risk and strongly believe this is the right public health decision.
“We are in a State of Emergency in New Haven, and it is critical that we limit interaction with others, promote social distancing, and keep our children from congregating in large crowds.”
Click here to read the full order.
The Rev. Kelcy Steele of Varick AME Zion Church was critical of the order.
In a Facebook post (pictured), he argued that the emergency declarations have not taken into consideration providing for the needy. “[Y]ou should have made sure there was equity across the board,” Steele wrote. He said the issue is not coronavirus, but “ongoing inequality.”
If we are making an exception for children of healthcare providers, why not for children of other essential workers? Firefighters, police, janitors (who do all that deep cleaning), food service workers packaging those free meals for kids ... ?