photo by: Chris Conde/Journal-World File Photo

Pinckney Elementary School, 810 W. Sixth St., is pictured in this Journal-World file photo from Sept. 15, 2018.

A third Boys and Girls Club of Lawrence location has closed because of a staff member contracting the coronavirus.

The club announced in a news release on Friday that it closed its summer site at Pinckney Elementary School, 810 W. Sixth St., because of a staff member testing positive for the virus last week. Monica Dittmer, CEO for the club, said in an email to the Journal-World that it would reopen when cleared to do so. She hopes that will be next week.

The Pinckney site joins Langston Hughes and Schwegler elementary school sites that have recently closed because of COVID-19. The club’s other three summer locations — Kennedy Elementary, Prairie Park Elementary and the Center for Great Futures — remain open.

The club noted that no children have tested positive for the virus.

Dittmer said in the news release that the club has continued to upgrade its safety precautions as the summer programming has gone on, including requiring every visitor to the club to wear a mask. While staff members have still caught the virus, she said she thought the club’s protocols have prevented spread.

“We are not forced to close down an entire site due to a positive test, but we do it to stop any potential spreading,” Dittmer said. “We could not imagine inadvertently exposing any children. When we tell you that safety is our No. 1 priority, we mean it.”