Two Manor of the Plains employees have tested positive for COVID-19
Manor of the Plains has identified two more employees who have tested positive for COVID-19 through the campus’ ongoing surveillance testing.
Both employees last worked Friday, October 9, and tested negative for COVID-19 in last week’s surveillance testing. Both employees were tested Monday, October 12, with 72 other Manor of the Plains employees. Those tests were positive. The other employees who were tested on Monday were negative.
The first employee, who does not provide direct resident care, had a negative COVID-19 rapid test on Saturday after a close contact began showing signs and symptoms of COVID-19. The employee was tested Monday and the positive result was received Tuesday afternoon.
The second employee is an essential health care worker who works in health care. The employee reported experiencing signs and symptoms of COVID-19, and was tested Monday.
The Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) epidemiology hotline and Ford County Health Department were notified immediately. They do not recommend any additional testing at this time other than the regular surveillance testing already taking place. We will monitor residents for signs and symptoms.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has mandated surveillance testing of our staff. Surveillance testing requires all employees, agency employees, volunteers, hospice, lab and therapy providers at our campus to be tested on a frequency determined by our county’s COVID-19 testing positivity rate. Based on our county positivity rate for COVID-19 tests, our campus is testing staff twice a week.
This brings our cumulative 7-day total to two employees.
Employees are encouraged to follow CDC guidelines and best practices as these are continually updated. The community regularly reinforces with all employees that an employee should not report to work if he or she is experiencing symptoms of a respiratory illness or is not feeling well.
The employees are recuperating at home. We follow CDC and KDHE guidelines in determining when an employee may return to work. Under the current guidelines, the employee may return to work when at least 72 hours have passed since resolution of the employee’s fever without the use of fever-reducing medications and the employee’s symptoms have improved, and at least 10 days have passed since symptoms first appeared. Asymptomatic positive employees will quarantine for 14 days. Upon the employee’s return to work, we will follow CDC recommendations related to work practices and restrictions.
For more information about Manor of the Plains’ response, go to PMMA’s (Presbyterian Manors of Mid-America’s) website, presbyterianmanors.org/media-room.
