BAKERSFIELD, Calif. — Two local headstart programs operated by the Community Action Partnership of Kern, or better known as CAP-K, are now closed following confirmed cases of the coronavirus among employees.
On Friday, CAP-K was notified that two of its largest centers, the Harvey Hall and Pete Parra centers in Bakersfield that some employees had tested positive for COVID-19.
Officials share that these employees were sent home and will not be able to return to work until multiple negative COVID-19 tests.
The sites were initially closed due to COVID-19 but reopened a month ago on June 1.
The classrooms in Harvey L. Hall and Pete Parra Centers in Bakersfield have now been closed down to clean the facilities.
All impacted classrooms will undergo a deep cleaning and sanitation process before reopening.
23ABc was able to speak with James Burger, the Outreach and Advocacy Coordinator for CAP-K who says they are not aware of any children or families that were infected during the headstart program.
Burger says they can not share an exact number of positive cases or a number of those exposed.
"So each day before any of us at CAP-K check into work at whether it's at a headstart classroom or food bank or wherever we working [ we do the following]," said Burger. "We take our temperatures, fill out questionnaires and [share] if are we experiencing any symptoms."
CAP-K operates 32 Head Start and Early Head Start childhood education sites in Kern County.
Currently, 11 of those sites were open and in operation during the summer term. As of right now, the nine other centers are still open and CAP-K says they are encouraging all to practice caution.
