Just a quick note on this. I wanted to say thank you so much to each of you. You are an amazing community of caring Mums and Dads. So many of you have willingly forgone classes; just to ensure that others are not alarmed because you've had cold symptoms. I notice that everyone has always been cautious about coming to a class if they or their baby is unwell. It's really touching. Let's keep doing this.
As many of you already know, I always wipe down mats and hard toys with
dettol between each class anyway. It is thought that sprays like dettol will be effective against this new coronavirus strain as they are effective against the known coronavirus strains as indicated on the labels. This can't be confirmed until the virus is released to commercial companies for testing which I imagine won't be any time soon. I machine wash items that can't be wiped down (like the scarves and cloth toys in the postnatal classes; and now the cushion covers and blankets in the pregnancy class) after each class too.
I would ideally like to have hand sanitiser available in classes but may have difficulty tracking some down!
Can I suggest that as an extra measure, we wash our hands as we arrive for classes and as we leave?
As you know, thankfully the virus is usually mild in younger people, children and babies. Pregnant women and unborn babies don't seem to be at increased risk either. However, I am on the email lists for the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gyneacologists (RCOG), the Royal College of Midwives (RCM) and NCT updates in precautions for managing the outbreak of this novel coronavirus amongst pregnant and postnatal women and their families. I am closely monitoring recommendations. So far there is no suggestion that suspension of classes is necessary. I really hope it doesn't come to that - but the health and safety of our community (and further afield) is the most important thing. We will do what we need to do!