CHILDCARE workers should be given proper personal protection equipment (PPE) and vaccinations while having to continue working during the Covid-19 pandemic, MP Nadia Whittome said yesterday.

On the first day of the spring term most primary and secondary schools remained shut while childcare providers such as nurseries were told to stay open.

The new Covid-19 strain spread quickly among children during the November lockdown and only closing schools can contain it, a new Imperial College London report warned last week. The mutated virus is more infectious that the original for under-nines, according to the data.

The Nottingham East Labour MP said: “Just as school staff need to feel safe at work, so do early-years workers.

“The government must act to protect childcare workers: bring back care bubbles, provide proper PPE and sick pay, and vaccinate them now.”

The United Voices of the World union is demanding “medical-grade PPE” and vaccinations for staff, and is calling on childcare workers to join a virtual meeting on Saturday to discuss an “action plan.”