Campbellton — Two daycares in the Campbellton were affected this week after a child was diagnosed with COVID-19. While both the employees and other children have all tested negative for the disease, they have been placed under precautionary quarantine, and one of the locations has closed until further notice.
Not everybody in the region feels that this was the correct move, however.
“I absolutely think that was an overreaction,” said Kelly Duplessis, owner of the rival Hands in Hands Daycare.
Duplessis, an ebullient woman gaudily dressed in a colourful, sequined shirt and paint-splattered capris welcomed a number of reporters into the building this morning to discuss how her daycare was handling the coronavirus.
“Come in, come in,” she said, gesturing. “Oh my, those mask will hardly be necessary — but as you wish. Come in.”
Duplessis explained that her daycare’s approach to the COVID-19 epidemic is a vastly different to that of most care facilities. Instead of closing up shop, her daycare will instead follow the model of “chicken pox parties” — controversial gatherings in which children are brought to be infected young, while their immunity is the strongest.
“We have a very simple motto for our kids — we share everything,” she explained, clasping her hands together and smiling. “Trust me, it doesn’t take much prompting for children of this age to put everything they see into their mouths.
“We observe a fairly strict schedule here,” she continued, showing off her activity board. “In the morning we play a quick round of ‘duck, duck, goose,’ then some ‘patty cake,’ followed by a close nap. Then, before quitting time, we all bob for apples.
“If your kid doesn’t go home infected in two weeks, I’ll drive them into Quebec myself,” she said, wearing a confident grin.
The Manatee asked Duplessis about the fact that while research has shown that having coronavirus does boost your antibodies, the notion that a person cannot be reinfected after recovery is, as of yet, unfounded.
“Listen — I’ve already sunk 438,000 dollars that I don’t have into this place,” she said, suddenly terse. “The shits I give are unfounded.”