Two day cares in Tacoma temporarily close after COVID-19 outbreaks
Two day cares in Tacoma will close for two weeks after children and staff tested positive for COVID-19, according to a blog post by the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department on Friday.
Five cases were recorded — two staff members and three children. Both facilities self-reported to the health department.
“In one case, a worker with access to multiple classrooms tested positive. As a result, the daycare entered two weeks of voluntary closure,” the health department said in its blog post.
“In the second case, one staff member and three children tested positive, affecting multiple classrooms. That facility also entered two weeks of voluntary closure.”
The facilities were not named. The health department does not make public outbreaks at specific businesses unless the site has at least 10 cases and 30 or more employees, in order to not identify workers or stigmatize businesses.
“The daycares mentioned in our blog today don’t meet the standard,” health department spokesperson Dale Phelps said in an email.
The department does list businesses by type and number of outbreaks on its website, a process it started this month.
The health department said the two day care facilities have issued letters to families and are using the closure time to clean and sanitize.
The department said the cases “underscore the message that COVID-19 can spread even in controlled environments.”
Throughout the pandemic, 40 childcare facilities have reported COVID-19 cases, the state Department of Health said in a report.
The report, updated on Thursday, said that only one childcare facility had reported a COVID-19 outbreak last week.
This story was originally published August 28, 2020 at 2:39 PM.
