When is a nanny not needed during this COVID-19 pandemic?

With the COVID-19 situation, parents have found themselves in dilemmas of whether to keep their nannies or let them go. This is mainly for those with nannies who are day-scholars.

Children are currently stuck at home and most parents are also working from home, to ensure everyone is quarantining and maintaining social distance as much as possible.

For those who need nannies, especially those in critical and essential services jobs, here is when having your nanny around won’t be necessary:

When you are self-quarantining

In case you are self-quarantining, to reduce the chances of exposing others to the virus, it is best to have your nanny stay away for the weeks you will be in isolation.

Consider the fact that your nanny will be exposed to more people when they walk or interact with people as they leave for work or go back home.

On the flip side, your day-scholar nanny can actually assist you with shopping for supplies and vegetables as you quarantine.

You can send them money and they bring you things you will need in the house. This can actually be done without making any contact with them.

They can buy the supplies and drop them at your doorstep for you to pick them up after they are gone.

When you have suspicions they could be exposed

When you feel that your nanny has been exposed to the virus, you can release them so that they quarantine themselves for the required time to ascertain they haven’t contracted the virus or prevent further spread of the virus.

The main purpose of nannies in the house is to help look after your little ones and do some cleaning here and there. Thus it is very risky to have them interacting with your kids, touching surfaces and even preparing meals.

To keep your family safe, ensure all your household members have masks and sanitize their hands as much as they can.

Talk to your nanny about your concerns and advise them to be careful whenever they go home or are coming to work.

When your nanny comes to tidy the house, they can clean and leave early to help them also adhere to social distancing regulations such as curfews.

When they have to use public transport to reach your house

For some households, their nannies live around and readily help in times of emergencies as they are only a walking distance away. This is not very risky because they can walk to your place and back without being necessarily exposed to crowds.

However, when your nanny or cleaner has to use public transport to get to your house, they are likely to interact with more people thus increasing their exposure.

You can curb this, you can resort to doing the cleaning and cooking for the time being until this pandemic dies down. Risking your nannies health is bad for them and for your household a whole.

When your nanny has a family of their own

With all households expected to maintain social distance, everyone is staying home and nannies and their families are no exceptions.

If your nanny has children of her own that need attention during this time, it would be best to give them a paid leave or work on a flexible schedule to help them work more efficiently with you.

In case your nanny has no family, it would still be best to work on a schedule. They don’t have to come to your house daily, to reduce their chances of exposure.

When you are working remotely from the house

This will mainly apply to those who need cleaners to wash and clean their houses but don’t necessarily need some help with children.

During this time, it is not crucial for your house help to come over and do the cleaning as regularly. Since you are now home most of the time, you can clean the house and tidy around for the time being while you work from home.

Remember, the fewer the people who come into your home, and people you interact with, the lower your risks of exposure to the deadly virus.