photo by: Chris Conde

The Watkins Museum, at 1047 Massachusetts St., is shown on Sept. 15, 2018.

The Watkins Museum, after reopening on June 26, will close again until mid-July due to a staff member testing positive for COVID-19.

The staff member who tested positive had last worked on site on June 26, a release from the museum stated.

Will Hickox, the museum’s public engagement coordinator, said that the staff member was only present in the building on the morning of June 26, at which time only three members of the public visited the museum. Those three people, as well as an additional four people who visited the museum later that afternoon, have been contacted by The Watkins Museum and notified of the positive case.

The Watkins Museum found out Tuesday that the employee had tested positive for COVID-19 and made the decision to close to the public through Monday, July 20, “out of an abundance of caution,” the release stated. The museum will reopen on July 21.

While it was open, the museum had been operating under guidelines only allowing eight visitors in the museum at one time, as well as asking visitors to wear masks.