photo by: Contributed Photo

Langston Hughes Elementary, 1101 George Williams Way.

The Boys and Girls Club of Langston Hughes closed on Saturday after leadership learned that a staff member tested positive for COVID-19. The club will remain closed until further notice.

There is a possibility that the affected staff member exposed other staff and members of the Langston Hughes Elementary club in the week prior to the date of diagnosis, an email from Chief Executive Officer Monica Dittmer said.

“We are collaborating with the appropriate public health officials and adhering to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommendations to privately inform anyone determined to have been in close contact with this staff member,” the email states. “We are also in ongoing communication with this individual, who is following strict medical guidelines and will remain in quarantine as recommended by their doctor.”

The email said that the Boys and Girls Club of Langston Hughes would reopen as soon as it was deemed safe, but until then the Boys and Girls Club of Lawrence would not be accepting transfer requests to other summer sites.

There are 221 youth enrolled for the summer at the Boys and Girls Club of Langston Hughes, and 116 of those youth attended at least one day last week, Dittmer said in an email to the Journal-World. The club’s in-person summer session began on June 1.