---
title: "Send an illness notice to a room's families"
description: "Tell the families of one or more rooms that a contagious illness was seen there, without naming who was ill, and keep a record of what you sent."
type: guide
updated: 2026-10-09
canonical_url: https://help.nestlicare.com/owners/safety/send-an-illness-notice
roles: ["super_admin", "center_admin"]
platforms: [web]
---
When a child or staff member has something contagious, the families in that room want to know so they can watch their own child. An illness notice sends them a short, calm message and never says who was ill. It goes out as a normal announcement with a notification, so every family sees it in the app they already have.

## Send a notice

1. Go to **Families & Children → Health → Illness Notices**.
2. Click **New Illness Notice**.
3. Pick the **illness**, or choose **Something else** and type it.
4. Tick the **rooms** whose families should hear about it. Families with a child in those rooms get it, including children who only attend part of the day there.
5. Set the day children **may have been exposed**. If it was more than one day, click **More than one day?** and set the last day too.
6. Set **Teachers keep an eye out until**. It defaults to a week after the exposure day; change it to whatever fits. Leave it empty if you don't want a date.
7. Add a **note for your records** if you like (for example, who told you and when). It is never sent to families.
8. Click **Preview**. You'll see the exact text and how many families it will reach. Edit the text as much as you want.
9. Click **Send notice**.

The notice text names the rooms and the days, asks families to keep an eye on their child, to keep a child who seems unwell at home, and to check with their child's doctor. It does not list symptoms or say how long a child must stay home. Those depend on the illness and on your state's rules, so add them yourself if you know them.

## What happens next

- Families in those rooms get a notification and see the notice with your other announcements.
- Teachers in those rooms see **Watching for (illness) until (date)** in **Needs your attention** until the date you set.
- The notice stays in your list under **Illness Notices**, with the rooms, dates, how many families it reached, who sent it and your private note.

## Keep it anonymous

In a small room, details like a child's age, the day they went home, or "the new baby" can point to one child. Keep the text general. The notice is written to help with that, but you can still edit it.

## Troubleshooting

**The Send button says "No families to send to".** No family has a child currently in the rooms you picked. Check the rooms, or check that the children are enrolled in them.

**A family says they didn't get a notification.** They may have announcement notifications turned off in their settings. The notice is still in their announcements.

**I sent it to the wrong room.** Archive the announcement from **Communication → Announcements** and send a new notice to the right room.

## Related

- [What needs your attention today](/teachers/activities/what-needs-your-attention)
- [Report and review incidents](/owners/safety/report-and-review-incidents)