Auburn YMCA facilities director Dave Murphy on Wednesday uses an electrostatic gun to spray Oxivir, a liquid disinfectant, to sanitize one of the pre-kindergarten rooms on the third floor that was closed due to a COVID 19 outbreak. Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal Buy this Photo
AUBURN — One child and two staff members at the YMCA of Auburn-Lewiston have tested positive for COVID-19, causing the facility to temporarily shut down its early childhood and school-age child care programs.
CEO Steve Wallace said one administrative staff member tested positive in October.
A child in the early childhood education center tested positive earlier this month after contracting the virus from a family member.
A staff member in the school-age program tested positive over the weekend. That person last had contact with children on Friday but had had no contact with the young child who tested positive. It’s unclear where that staff member contracted the virus.
The early childhood program is open to 62 kids from birth to pre-kindergarten. About 20 had direct contact with the child who tested positive. The program closed immediately and is scheduled to reopen Monday, Nov. 23, but the YMCA may extend the closure until after Thanksgiving.
The school-age program shut down this week and is scheduled to reopen Nov. 30.
The YMCA keeps its early childhood education center, school-age childcare program and fitness center separated, assigning each one its own floor. The fitness facility remains open.
“There was no cross contamination with our fitness center,” Wallace said. “With our full mask mandate downstairs, people have to wear masks even to work out. It’s a little crazy, but it’s still working.”
Paris Elementary School is also dealing with an outbreak involving three students, according to the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention. The school, which is part of SAD 17, closed to in-person learning this week and will remain closed until at least Nov. 30, according to a letter to parents. Students started remote learning Wednesday.
The new outbreaks come as Maine continues to see rising COVID-19 cases, increasing hospitalizations and more deaths. On Wednesday, Maine recorded 156 new cases and four deaths. Eighty-five people are currently hospitalized, 30 of them in the ICU.
The Maine CDC has started six outbreak investigations in the past day and a half.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.