Stormont closes Building Blocks Child Care Center, as 18 staff members test positive for COVID-19
Stormont Vail Health announced Monday it is closing its Building Blocks Child Care Center due to team members testing positive for the coronavirus.
In a news release, Stormont public relations specialist Matt Lara indicated the health system tested all 44 employees at the child care center, and 18 of those staff members tested positive for COVID-19.
Because of the cases, Building Blocks has been shut down, and it will remain closed until at least Nov. 23. The facility is being cleaned, and all staff members must test negative before being allowed back on site, according to the release.
Lara said Stormont doesn’t know how the outbreak started or how it spread among employees. On Thursday, a staff member at the child care center reported they had tested positive for COVID-19, Lara said. That is when Stormont made the decision to temporarily close the facility, he added. And on Friday, Stormont decided to test all team members there for virus.
According to Lara, Stormont is contacting the parents of all children who were being cared for at the center. Building Blocks is a Stormont-owned facility that primarily provides child care to Stormont employees — though enrollment is open to the entire community.
“Stormont’s working through options right now to try to avoid any hospital or medical staff having to take time off due to this,” Lara said. “The goal right now is for them to not have to take time off, but we don’t have any details on what that will look like.”
Families won’t be charged for child care while Building Blocks is closed. The facility is expected to remain closed until mandatory teacher-to-child ratios are able to be met.
According to Lara, employees at the child care center are required to wear masks throughout the day, and he said all staff and children have their temperatures checked daily.
Several of the staff members who tested positive for the virus are teachers who float between different rooms, Lara said.
According to the news release, majority of staff who tested positive weren’t showing symptoms.