COVID-19: Early childhood centres prepare to open under alert level 2 as Delta increasingly afflicts the young

Early childhood centres outside of Auckland are preparing to open their doors to thousands of littlies under the new-look alert level 2.

It comes as Sydney records its youngest-ever COVID-19 patient - a nine-day-old baby.

Australian baby Hudson, who is just over a week old, is a fighter. He has been diagnosed with Delta which he caught from mum Madeline Woods.

"The panic that washed over me as a first-time mother, I can't even begin to describe it," she said.

The likely source is a neighbouring patient in the ward at Sydney's Campbelltown Hospital.

"Unfortunately from being in the same room as someone, in a separate bed, masks on, curtains pulled, we still got exposed," Woods said.

Delta increasingly afflicts the young. In New South Wales 2000 children under nine have caught COVID-19 in the last fortnight. Meanwhile New Zealand currently has 16 cases under five years old. 

But early childhood providers, prepping to open en masse to those outside of Auckland on Wednesday, are assuring parents it's safe.

"All the safety precautions have been tried and tested and we've done this now four or five times," Early Childhood Council president Darius Singh told Newshub.

To help combat Delta, the Ministry now requires all centres reopening to keep the indoor temperature up at 18C and doors open for ventilation.

"We have to start our heat pumps on at 3am in the morning at 28-30C in order to have a 7am start on a cold winter morning at 18C and with Delta being airborne it makes sense. We do want fresh air as well, so it's just that conflicting sort of approach," Singh said.

Not to mention it's costly, but it's measures like this that many parents say put their mind at ease.

"Our centre's sent us emails about what they expect from us and what they are doing so we are very confident," one mum said.

"I am not worried because it's not here yet," another told Newshub.

The Ministry of Education on Tuesday advised early childhood centres they can ask staff whether they're vaccinated, but there is no requirement for them to be. Face coverings for teachers and children under six are also optional when they go back on Wednesday.