News

Four people from the Little Learners child care centers in Arcata tested positive for coronavirus in early July, the Lost Coast Outpost has reported.

Little Learners operates three daycare sites in Arcata and one in Eureka, with programs newly adapted to accommodate the children of healthcare workers employed by Open Door Community Health Centers during the pandemic.

Mask-wearing and temperature checks are required each day at the centers. Still, it was not a surprise to co-founder Shannon Hall when she learned that people from Little Learners had been exposed to the virus, Hall told LoCO.

“We’ve been open during this whole thing and we have a lot of high-risk workers, doctors and nurses,” Hall told the Outpost. “I definitely told my staff, ‘It’s not a matter of if,’ it was a matter of when we were going to get COVID at our place.”

The our positive tests all came from centers in Arcata, LoCO reported, with three positive tests at the center in the Valley West neighborhood and at the 10th Street site. Hall told LoCo that the infected were “a mix” of children and staff.

For information on resulting Little Learners classroom closures and updated policies, read the LoCO story.