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Boys and Girls Club closes Garden City location as precaution against coronavirus

The Moseley Center closed after an employee came in close contact with someone who tested positive for the virus.

GARDEN CITY, Idaho — The Boys and Girls Club of Ada County closed the Moseley Center in Garden City until June 30 after one of the club’s employees came into close contact with someone who tested positive for Covid-19.

“We had one of our employees that was at work on June 12 and June 15, then found out on June 16 in the early morning that they were in direct connection with someone who tested positive,” Joey Schueler said, director of operations for the Boys and Girls Clubs of Ada County.

“We immediately took steps to quarantine, as is our policy, then had that employee get tested,” he added.

The employee’s test came back negative, but Central District Health advised the Boys and Girls Club to be extra safe and close the Moseley Center, due to the possibility of a false negative.

“When [Central District Health] determined that the case represented a ‘probable case,' they worked with us,” Schueler said. “We shared their decision to close operations for the six remaining days to get through to that 14-day waiting period from the potential of a spread of illness.”

RELATED: Ada County rolled back to Stage 3, all bars will be forced to close

The Mosely Center closed last Tuesday, and will remain closed until June 30.

The Boys and Girls Clubs of Ada County will refund parents for the days the Moseley Center is closed.

“We’re doing everything we can, and we know how important it is not just to protect the public safety and health of our community, but also to serve in this capacity to make sure our essential workers have care, and that our Stage Four parents who are returning to work have a place for their child that is affordable,” Schueler said.

Schueler said it’s not easy to close a club.

“I would rather be abundantly cautious than take the erroneous step to increase spread where possible to avoid that,” he said.

The Boys and Girls Club of Ada County director urged all Idahoans to be safe.

RELATED: How this spike in Idaho's COVID-19 cases is different from the last major rise in infections

“Wear the mask in public. Try to avoid congregating when possible. Exercise social distancing when beyond your household,” he said. “If we all do that, we can flatten this curve and get back to what we all love about the Treasure Valley, which is the community we live in.”

The Moseley Center is the only Ada County Boys and Girls Club location closed until June 30. All other locations will remain open.

At KTVB, we’re focusing our news coverage on the facts and not the fear around the virus. To see our full coverage, visit our coronavirus section, here: www.ktvb.com/coronavirus.

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