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UPDATE: 'Disaster Relief' Child Care Centers Being Created In Michigan

CREDIT JENNIFER GUERRA / MICHIGAN RADIO

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DETROIT (AP) — Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is relaxing licensing rules so employers and schools can quickly create “disaster relief” child care centers during the coronavirus emergency.

The facilities will prioritize slots for workers in certain essential fields like health care and law enforcement.

Whitmer's order Wednesday came after officials said a man in his 50s who had COVID-19 died at a Detroit-area hospital. It's the first coronavirus death in Michigan.

Meanwhile, Detroit's three automakers agreed to close all U.S. factories due to virus fears. The U.S. and Canada have agreed to temporarily close their shared border to nonessential travel.

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Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer announced the closure of all K-12 schools starting Monday to help slow the spread of COVID-19. The closures could impact daycare centers.

With schools in Michigan set to close soon, many parents who rely on school for more than education will be without childcare if they’re still required to work.

Mary Wardlaw is the owner of The Children’s Center which has locations in Niles and St. Joseph. She said they’re preparing for an increase in kids enrolling in a short amount of time.

“We anticipate that our school-age groups will be pretty large over the next few weeks.”

Wardlaw said the center has a capacity of 90 spots at the Niles location and 120 at the St. Joseph location.

She said they run close to that on a regular basis but are trying to increase staff.

“We have limited spaces available but we will certainly bring in as many families as we can.”

Wardlaw said The Children’s Center is taking precautions to prevent spreading of COVID-19 at their facility like more handwashing, sanitizing all toys, and asking families to keep children at home if anyone in the family is sick.

Contact Annacaroline at acaruso@wvpe.org or follow her on Twitter at @AnnacarolineC16

If you appreciate this kind of journalism on your local NPR station, please support it by donating at:  https://wvpe.thankyou4caring.org/ 

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