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Top Takeaways is a series of recaps from important conversations, town halls, webinars and virtual events about early learning.

The trauma of COVID-19 is widespread but not evenly distributed. Some communities are suffering more than others. The Commonwealth of Virginia has , but of course it is not out of the woods.

featured Dr. Danny Avula, director of the Richmond City Health Department, Jenna Conway from the Virginia Department of Education Department of School Readiness, Dr. Bergen B. Nelson, a pediatrician, John Richardson-Lauve from and J. David Young from , among others. Chanel Bea of the Virginia Community Foundation for a Greater Richmond moderated the conversation, which conveyed a mood best captured by Avula when he said he felt 鈥渃autious confidence about expanding use of child care.鈥� Here are five takeaways from .

1. Over-communicate. In normal times, officials and administrators might assume a single reminder email will suffice, but these are not normal times. Communicating more than is generally considered necessary is a way to underscore the importance of the information. Conway said, 鈥淗ealth care professionals who are regularly exposed to COVID-19 emphasize communication as the key to helping people understand how serious this is.鈥�

One example of a message that bears repeating: vaccinations still count. Pediatricians and families have been taking advantage of telemedicine during the pandemic, but Nelson says not to delay in-person visits, especially for regularly scheduled vaccination. 鈥淢easles and other non-COVID diseases are extremely serious,鈥� Conway reminded the participants.

2. Good habits flatten the curve. Although children have lower infection and contagion rates, habits like hand washing and mask wearing still matter. (An added bonus of all the hand washing, reports Conway, is that they have seen much less strep throat and other common illnesses.) If children are old enough to put a mask on by themselves, they are old enough to wear masks. Don鈥檛 assume they will be able to stick with it at first. 鈥淏efore you go to the store or to school,鈥� advised Richardson-Lauve, 鈥減ractice at home. Play dress-up with the mask to normalize the experience and to set expectations.鈥�

3. Lean into the honor system. Even with contact tracing and other measures to reduce risk, we鈥檒l never have a complete picture of where every child and teacher has been and who they鈥檝e come in contact with, so we have to trust each other鈥攁nd earn that trust. Teachers will have to remember physical distancing when socializing with one another. 鈥淭he old days where your kid had a little fever and you sent her anyway?鈥� said Conway. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 not going to fly anymore.鈥� The same goes for staff. 鈥淭here鈥檚 no honor in coming to work sick,鈥� she added.

4. Guidelines are there to inform, not replace, judgment. Context-specific judgment works better than blanket rules that don鈥檛 account for variables like the size of the facility and pre-existing health conditions that exacerbate risk. As Conway put it, 鈥淎sk yourself, what is the least worst option?鈥� Avula reminded participants that child care centers can 鈥渃onsult directly with your local health departments to operationalize guidelines.鈥�

5. Early child educators are showing how to adapt and innovate. In Young鈥檚 facility, each child has a separate bin of supplies and only gets toys that can be quickly and easily disinfected. Deciding that having his staff take public transportation wasn鈥檛 worth the risk, Young made arrangements to have vans pick them up.

This story originally published on Early Learning Nation and is now archived on 91涩漫. Learn more here.