Day care centers can fully reopen by June 15 and parents must now decide if they feel safe allowing their children to return.

For the last three months, 3-year-old Natalie Fernandez has been basically confined to her backyard when it comes to playtime – her only socialization is her older brothers Justin and Ryan. Her mother Vanessa Fernandez says that it is now time for Natalie to be back with kids her own age at day care.

“She misses being in a world that’s created for her. She misses the interaction with her friends. She talks about her friends all the time,” Vanessa says. “She misses learning at her level."

Vanessa says that she and her husband believe that the rewards of day care outweigh the risk of Natalie contracting COVID-19. She says that the decision comes from the confidence in the day care and its safety protocols.

“Every time we drop off, the facility will take my temperature and my child’s temperature,” Vanessa says.

Parents will not be allowed inside the center.

Under Gov. Phil Murphy’s guidelines for child care centers, anyone with a fever of 100.4 degrees will not be allowed to enter. Class sizes will be reduced, toys must be repeatedly cleaned and the staff must wear masks. Masks for children over 2 years old are recommended, but not required.

“I can’t even get Natalie to try on a mask, so I don’t think she’ll be wearing a mask and I feel OK with that,” Vanessa says.

But not all parents are as confident letting their children return to day care. Some says that they worry about germs at the centers. These parents say that they will be keeping their children home all summer. But what does that mean for the state’s economy rebounding?

Officials say that day care centers are vital to helping the economy recover by allowing parents to return to work. But will these centers say in business if there aren’t as many children?

Vanessa says that she has to work and that keeping Natalie home is not an option.

“I would be very difficult. I would have to consider hiring a nanny or babysitter to come over every day,” she says.

Inspectors with the state Office of Licensing will be visiting the day care centers to help them adjust to new guidelines. These visits will begin on June 15.