Australia Covid live update: health workers exposed to virus at two more Sydney hospitals; Victorians told to wear masks indoors

As mentioned earlier, the federal government has announced it will allow childcare services to waive the gap fee for parents in Covid-affected areas in NSW.

Childcare services can remain open under the current restrictions for people who need to continue to go to work. The waiver applies to people who want to keep their kids at home but not lose their place.

A statement from the prime minister’s office says:


From Monday July 19, childcare centres in New South Wales local government areas subject to stay at home orders can waive gap-fees on the days that parents choose to keep their children at home. The gap fee is the difference between the Child Care Subsidy (CCS) the government pays to a service and the remaining fee paid by the family.

Scott Morrison mentioned this on AM this morning.

It’s an opt-in scheme, so childcare centres can choose to participate. It also applies to out-of-hours school care.

Education minister Alan Tudge said the program means parents don’t just pull their enrolment, and means that childcare centres can maintain a stable source of revenue in the form of the Commonwealth’s childcare subsidy.

The scheme will apply in the local government areas of: Bayside, Blacktown, Blue Mountains, Burwood, Camden, Campbelltown, Canada Bay, Canterbury-Bankstown, Central Coast, Cumberland, Fairfield, Georges River, Hawkesbury, Hornsby, Hunters Hill, Inner West, Ku-ring-gai, Lane Cove, Liverpool, Mosman, North Sydney, Northern Beaches, Parramatta, Penrith, Randwick, Ryde, Shellharbour, Strathfield, Sutherland Shire, Sydney, The Hills Shire, Waverley, Willoughby, Wollondilly, Wollongong and Woollahra.

source: theguardian.com