Chatham daycare partially closes after employee tests positive for COVID-19
CHATHAM, Ill. (WICS/WRSP) — Pleasant Park Child Development Center in Chatham hasn’t completely shut down after an employee tested positive for COVID-19.
The Illinois Department of Public Health advises local health departments work with daycares when a staff member tests positive.
“We may know the facility, so once our nurses start working with the facility, it's somewhat like we do with long-term care," said Sangamon County Department of Public Health Director Gail O'Neill. "Help give us a floor plan, a diagram of your building."
O’Neill doesn't think the whole facility needs to shut down.
"We've had some experience with other facilities that just managed it, they closed a room," O’Neill said.
Pleasant Park closed two rooms the employee recently worked in.
"The children in these rooms don't switch hallways or switch places like a school," O'Neill said. "They're self-contained and have the same teachers."
Pleasant Park found out about the positive case on Monday. In a statement, they said:
“At this time, we only have one positive case. All parents and staff were all notified on Monday. Pleasant Park has followed all DCFS and IDPH recommendations and will continue to do so.”
O’Neill said they are doing contact tracing to see who was exposed.
"The nurses have been doing contact tracing with the person who was the one we identified as infected and working with the owner or manager of the daycare," O'Neill said. "They kind of worked through a scenario of who was exposed."
The health department will continue to work with Pleasant Park to prevent any further cases.
