Parents scramble for childcare options,

Many parents will work from home — the best they can while supervising their children trying to learn on tablets or laptops.

Grandparents and inlaws are being drafted to help. Baby sitters began advertising online. Daycare facilities are doing deep cleanings and waiving some fees to accommodate an influx of children.

Across South Florida, parents were scrambling Saturday to arrange childcare in the face of an unprecedented shut down of schools because of the global coronavirus pandemic.

Ashley Jitta, a humanresources manager, can’t work from home. So she’s taking her 7-year-old daughter to her sister’s home child learning center — as soon as she can find a doctor to clear the child’s health and give her a note. The Jitta Bug Learning Center is run out of Adrienne Donaldson’s home and cares for 10 children, most of them pre-school age.

“It’s amazing for me because a lot of people don’t have vacation or paid-time off to use,” Jitta said. “Not all companies are closing.”

Jitta is not alone. Thousands of parents were left in a lurch Friday after Miami-Dade and Broward schools abruptly ordered the shutdown of schools to help curb the spread of the coronavirus, which causes the illness COVID-19. Schools will be closed through at least this coming week, with the following week off because of spring break.

The closures were ordered as U.S. President Donald Trump declared a national emergency, Gov. Ron DeSantis activated the National Guard and the state’s education commissioner “strongly recommended” that all superintendents shut down schools next week.

Across the world on Saturday, there were at least 142,539 confirmed cases, and 5,393 deaths, according to the World Health Organization.

For parents faced with child-care woes, there could be some relief thanks to the federal government.

The U.S. House of Representatives on Friday passed a bill that mandates up to 14 days of paid sick leave for people who have to stay home to care for a child whose school or child-care facility has shuttered.

Trump has endorsed the measure, which must now pass the U.S. Senate.

Until the federal dollars start rolling, companies are grappling with how to deal with the sudden child-care woes.

At some South Florida public agencies, employees quickly became upset over the response to the childcare issues.

Florida courts employees were told they could not bring their children to work, and would have to burn vacation or sick days if they wanted to stay home to care for them.

On Friday, the MiamiDade Public Defender’s Office said that next week it would grant “administrative” paid time off to employees who needed to take off to care for children. A day later, the State Attorney’s Office followed suit and announced administrative time would be granted.

Near Westchester, web designer Lisette Arocha,

39, will work from home but needs to block out time in the morning to make sure she can communicate with teachers who are using special software to give lesson plans to kids remotely. She’s also going to move her work station close to the dining room table — where her two daughters will sit to learn.

“It’s going to be a unique situation,” Arocha said.

In Miami Shores, the Meltz family is joining with other neighborhood parents to rotate supervision of their children at different homes during the day.

Jonathan Meltz, a defense lawyer in private practice who has three daughters, said “everyone has to pitch in.”

“The kids, they’re going to want to go on Netflix, or do Tik Toks. For them to stay focused on online learning, it’s going to be challenging,” Meltz said.

Elisa D’Amico, a partner at the Miami law firm K&L Gates, will have a packed house.

She will be allowed to work from home. Her husband, also an attorney, works from the house, too. A nanny cares for their 2-year-old son. In between a torrent of calls and emails, she’ll have to ensure her 8-year-old son and 11-year-old stepson are doing their assigned school work.

Also, they’ve got two dogs and two sugar gliders, tiny marsupials kept as exotic pets.

“I feel more fortunate than others because I work remotely a lot and have backup child-care built into my life,” said D’Amico, 38. “But it still incredibly stressful.”

“I also need to make sure there’s food in the house and that I cook enough to feed everyone while they’re all stuck at home,” said D’Amico, whose family also deals with food allergies. “Just yesterday, I wasn’t able to find gluten-free pasta or chicken nuggets, which makes feeding the family a big challenge. I snagged one pack of gluten-free tortillas, which was a big win.”

Many after-school and daycare facilities won’t be shutting down.

At the Sweet Angels Academy, which runs three daycare facilities in MiamiDade, owner Maria Castellon said she is waiving some fees for parents and will extend hours. Staff has been doing extra-deep cleaning, wiping down doors and walls.

Castellon expects an uptick in the number of children.

“We’re going to provide care. We’re not going to gouge the prices up as other people are doing,” Castellon said. “I’ve been trying to help as much as I can to provide service with a lot of love.”

Home child-care facilities won’t be closing either unless state health officials mandate it, said Dondaldson, of the Jitta Bug Learning Center, who is also a representative of the Florida Family Child Care Home Association.

Many facilities, smaller ones run out of homes, won’t be taking in new children but remain upbeat, Donaldson said.

“We can’t allow the coronavirus to ruin our business,” she said.