| (1) | An early childhood development programme or a partial care facility must ensure that there are— |
| (a) | easily accessible and sufficient quantities of soap and hand sanitisers at its entrance and inside for use by children and staff members or other persons entering the early childhood development programme or partial care facility; and |
| (b) | facilities for washing of hands with soap and clean water. |
| (2) | An early childhood development programme or a partial care facility must take proper measures to ensure that— |
| (a) | premises, equipment and furniture are cleaned and disinfected; |
| (b) | teaching and learning materials are thoroughly cleaned and disinfected as prescribed in the standard operating procedures; and |
| (c) | all areas, such as toilets, common areas, door handles and shared electronic equipment, are regularly cleaned and disinfected. |
| (3) | An early childhood development programme or a partial care facility must— |
| (a) | provide each staff member with a minimum of two cloth face masks; and |
| (b) | require children, subject to subparagraph (4), and any other person entering the premises, to wear a cloth face mask, a homemade item that covers the nose and mouth or another appropriate item to cover the nose and mouth. |
(4)
| (a) | No child aged 24 months or younger may be required to wear a mask due to the associated risks1. |
| (b) | A child aged two to five years must be encouraged to wear a cloth face mask to prevent disease transmission, subject to measures set out in the standard operating procedures to guide and support young children with compliance and taking into account the child's age and developmental abilities2 . |
| (5) | For the purposes of these directions, a hand sanitiser must be one that contains at least 70% alcohol and complies with the recommendations of the Department of Health. |
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| 1 | Scientific evidence shows that babies up to the age of two are at risk of suffocation when wearing a mask. The South African Pediatric Association also advised strongly that wearing of masks by children under two years should be discouraged because of the possible risk of suffocation. |
| 2 | Though it is recommended that a child older than 2 years should ideally wear a cloth face mask to prevent disease transmission. However, it is well recognised that children between 2 and 5 years cope poorly with wearing a mask, regularly touching or removing it, reducing any benefit. |
