The University of Minnesota Crookston (UMC) Early Childhood Development Center is closed for 14 days following a positive COVID-19 case with several close contacts. The closure began last week and will continue through November 4.
The Early Childhood Development Center was notified last week of a positive case. Due to the number of close contacts, a letter was sent out to parents on October 21 that the center would be closed for 14-days, said Interim Assistant Director for Communication Shawn Smith. “There was the one case of someone testing positive, and because of the close contacts, they closed down the child care center for 14 days,” said Smith. “October 22 through November 4 is the period of shutdown. And I think the tentative plan would be to reopen the child care center on November 5 as long as everything continues to go as planned.”
Smith added that he’s not aware of any additional cases associated with the Early Childhood Development Center since the shutdown began. On-campus, Smith said there are approximately 20 university students either isolated or in quarantine. “Everything has been pretty good,” said Smith. “As of yesterday, it’s now 18 students are quarantined on campus, and two isolation rooms are in use. The 18 students more than likely were close contacts. That’s usually what quarantining means, and then the isolation would be positive cases on campus. I’d take that to mean there are two positive cases on campus and 18 people that had contact on campus that are quarantining.”
According to Smith, classes and athletic practices continue to be held as scheduled. “Everything else is going well,” said Smith. “Campus is still open. Classes are still going on as scheduled, and athletic teams are still practicing. It’s just the child care center that is shut down until that November 4th date as of right now.”
UMC will transition to online-only classes to finish the semester following the Thanksgiving break. Still, Smith said the campus would remain open to athletic teams and students for whom campus is the best location for them to be. “Thanksgiving through Christmas, it’s going all distance learning,” said Smith. “Students do have the option to stay if this is the best-case scenario for them. So, basketball, I think the plan is to start up practice later this month. Those students could stay on campus from everything I understand because they’ll start full practice getting ready for the season. Obviously, practice is going on right now, but it’s limited kind of pre-season stuff, not in-season practice.”
