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Day care center closes after one COVID-19 case

ChildCare Discovery Center shuttered until Sept. 14

-Submitted photo
Zach Orth, with Serv Pro, fogs ChildCare Discovery Center in Fort Dodge after the center closed. The center was notified that one of its employees tested positive for COVID-19 on Monday.

A Fort Dodge day care closed Monday after it was notified that an employee tested positive for COVID-19, according to its administrator.

Parents and children affected by the ChildCare Discovery Center closure were notified with an email Monday saying that the center at 2329 First Ave. S. would be closed until Sept. 14.

“Unfortunately, it wasn’t a matter of if, but when (COVID-19) would enter our facility,” said Administrator Tammy McNeil in a letter to parents and employees.

Though the positive employee did not have sustained, direct exposure with children for at least 15 minutes, McNeil said they were in more sustained contact with other employees who interact more extensively with children.

For the first time in the center’s 20 years, McNeil said it will be closed for the rest of the week for deep cleaning and professional fogging to clear the facility of the virus. Employees have been directed to get tested while the center is closed.

“We’ve never closed for anything in the 20 years we’ve been open, not even for bad weather,” McNeil told The Messenger. “It was a difficult decision, but it was pretty easy when you think about what we do at the center — taking care of kids and employees.”

Even though children attending the center were not around this employee for more than 15 minutes, the center asks parents to assess their children daily and get them tested if they show symptoms.

The center has 35 employees that care for an average of 175 to 200 children each day at the 15,000 square foot center.

McNeil said that the decision to close the entire facility was based on the fact that the affected employee had so much contact with other employees, rather than contact limited to one classroom. The day care center currently has extra staff to regularly sanitize common areas and high-touch surfaces.

Mitigation measures have also been in place at the center, including regular temperature checks of children and staff throughout the day. Children showing symptoms are sent home until they are symptom-free for 72 hours or are released by a physician.

“A lot of it is difficult because of the age of the children. These are (parents’) babies,” McNeil said. “We take care of something that’s very precious to all our families.”

Whether the center stays open or closes, McNeil said, someone will find fault with the decision. But given the risk, she felt closing was the safest thing to do.

“That’s a difficult thing for all of us here because we work very hard to keep these kids as safe as we possibly can,” she said.

“Contact tracing and notification happens the same in a day care situation as it does in school cases or in community cases,” said Kelli Bloomquist, public information officer for Webster County Public Health.

After identifying the close contacts of a positive employee, WCPH contacts a day care’s director to do further contact tracing with staff and children before providing guidance to parents and staff about quarantine requirements and what symptoms to watch for.

U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advise those closely exposed to someone with COVID-19 to remain home for 14 calendar days after their last exposure to the person and monitor for symptoms, Bloomquist said.

The center will not charge parents while closed. Questions can be directed to McNeil via email at ourworld@childcarediscoverycenter.com.

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