Cheryl Dubas watched as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reduced the size of a gathering from 50 people to 10 people over the course of about 24 hours, as more intense efforts to stem further spread of the novel coronavirus began.
Like other child care operators in the state, Dubas said the announcement from Gov. Pete Ricketts on Monday afternoon left her with one big question.
Did the 10 people apply to the whole child care facility, or just a single classroom?
"When it became 50, we weren't overly concerned," said Dubas, who owns Little Wonderland, Little Brookland and Little Munchkinland, all in Lincoln. "When it became 10, that's when we became concerned."
Ricketts' office Tuesday clarified that the 10-person recommendation, developed from CDC guidelines announced by President Donald Trump earlier Monday, applied to a single classroom.
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The recommendation also applies to businesses, gatherings such as weddings and funerals, as well as church services. Meanwhile, many schools throughout the state have called off classes, and colleges and universities began to encourage students to move home for the remainder of the semester.
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Dubas, who has been a child care provider for more than a quarter-century, both in-home and in a center, said she called the Nebraska Department for Health and Human Services for more clarity.
She was told that limiting the number of children and staff per room to 10 would fulfill the governor's recommendation, "so that's what we've done."
Monday, Ricketts had said, based on CDC's guidelines: "Child care centers should also work to follow the 10-person guidance. Again, these establishments should use common sense when applying the guideline with the goal of reducing class sizes and increasing space between children."
Family child care homes, which are licensed for 10 or 12 children, should all try to reduce their numbers to 10, the governor's office also said. Larger centers should try to hold group sizes to 10 children per classroom.
The White House recommended states and localities continue to support child care programs in hospital settings to address the needs of "critical responders."
Other child care facilities, such as the University of Nebraska-Lincoln's Children's Center Community, asked parents to keep their kids home in order to comply with the governor's guidance.
Parents who chose not to bring their children to the child care at the Prem S. Paul Research Center — the former Whittier Junior High School — between March 16-31 could receive a refund, part of the "common sense" approach urged by the governor's office, the center wrote in a letter to parents.
The approach taken by the UNL center does come with its dangers. Operating totally on parent tuition, the center urged parents to start seeking alternatives should the pandemic continue and force it to close altogether.
"We are still very much in the land of the unknown," the center said. "Our goal is to operate under this limited care model for as long as we can but that may change at any time."
In Omaha, the child care center run by St. Paul United Methodist Church shut down completely for the week.
"It's very important to me to flatten the curve," the Rev. Stephanie Ahlschwede said Tuesday, referring to efforts to prevent further cases of COVID-19 which would add stress on the nation's health care system. "And I'll admit, I assumed all child cares would close when (Omaha Public Schools) did."
Those other centers didn't close, but Ahlschwede said she believes the church made the right call to ask the 80 children to say home for the week, giving the church time to do a thorough cleaning and assess what would be best for the facility, staff and families moving forward.
"Our parents have been very supportive — I think it was the right thing for us to do," Ahlschwede said.
Back in Lincoln, Dubas said her centers, which each accommodate 60-80 children on a normal day and employ 15-18 people, have taken more steps to put distance between various age groups and activities.
"We've put them in different places in the building. When they eat breakfast, there are less than 10 kids at a time," she said.
Parents have been told if their child records a temperature of 100 degrees, he or she will be sent home and be asked to stay there for 24 hours.
In-home child cares have reported beefing up their cleaning and disinfecting routines, and even trying to keep smaller groups of children occupied with various activities in different parts of the house.
Everyone is understanding and working together, Dubas added.
Some parents have volunteered to keep their children at home for two weeks, to ensure parents who can't stay home — including many health care workers — have caretakers for their children.
At the same time, the child cares have put more hand sanitizer stations throughout the facilities and boosted their hand-washing and hygiene efforts, Dubas added.
"Anytime we do anything, we wash our hands," she said.