HILL AIR FORCE BASE — After a COVID-19 scare over the weekend, Hill Air Force Base’s child care facilities will all reopen Tuesday.

The base had temporarily shut down it’s three child and youth development centers after one child and a staff member exhibited symptoms of the novel coronavirus and required testing. Base spokesman Donovan Potter said the shutdown was implemented out of an abundance of caution. The test results came back negative Monday afternoon, he said, and all three centers will reopen for mission essential personnel only.

According to a base press release, several people affiliated with the child care centers had been asked to quarantine on Sunday, March 29, pending results of the testing. Those people are no longer being required to quarantine, the release says.

Hill says all families that use the youth programs are being notified of the situation and all of the child care facilities have been cleaned in accordance with guidelines from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention and the base’s 75th Medical Group.

The base’s child care centers are conducting health screenings prior to staff members and children being allowed inside the facilities. Medical personnel will check temperatures of all those who wish to enter, according to the release.

Between its government civilian, active-duty Air Force and military contractor workforce, Hill employs about 25,000 people, according to an annual Economic Impact Statement released by the base earlier this year. Potter said base employees, military and civilian, are allowed to use the child care system there.

Meanwhile, the base has announced its second positive COVID-19 case and the entire installation has moved to a “Health Protection Condition Charlie” to combat the spread of COVID-19. The base is not closed, but the HPCON Charlie designation is the second most restrictive health designation in the Department of Defense world. It restricts movement of personnel on the base to official business, imposes strict hygiene rules, self-isolation if exposed, and requires the avoidance of risk areas, like common gathering spots.

According to a DoD press release, the public health emergency protocols are reviewed by installation commanders and updated based on risk levels within a local community and in cooperation with local, state and national guidance. The most severe HPCON is Delta and follows the same guidance as Charlie, but also instructs DoD personnel to “expect to remain at home for extended periods of time as movement in the community may be restricted; at-home isolation or quarantine may be directed.”