Clay Center Presbyterian Manor reports COVID-positive employee, residents
An essential health care employee, 4 health care residents, 1 assisted living resident and 2 independent living residents at Clay Center Presbyterian Manor have tested positive for COVID-19 this week.
“With cases rapidly increasing in Clay County, we continue to be vigilant in our efforts to keep residents and employees safe and healthy at our community,” said Jeanne Gerstenkorn, PMMA’s infection preventionist and vice president for health and wellness.
The employee case was detected during Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) mandated surveillance testing of our employees. Based on the county positivity rate for COVID-19 tests, Clay Center Presbyterian Manor is surveillance testing twice a week.
Residents were tested following a potential exposure when an employee tested positive for the virus last week. The campus tested 47 residents and sent the tests to the Kansas Department of Health and Environment lab for processing. The test results were received late today.
Residents who test positive will be placed in COVID-19 isolation to be cared for by designated staff according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) infection control protocols and physician’s orders.
Clay Center Presbyterian Manor will follow (CDC) and KDHE guidelines for when the residents may come out of isolation. Under the current guidelines, symptomatic residents may come out of isolation when at least 72 hours have passed since resolution of the resident’s fever without the use of fever-reducing medications and the resident’s symptoms have improved and at least 10 days have passed since symptoms first appeared. If asymptomatic, the residents will remain in isolation for 14 days.
The campus tested 59 employees, 3 therapists and 47 health care and assisted living residents on Monday, November 23, and 58 employees and 3 therapists on Tuesday, November 24. All other employees and therapists were negative for the virus.
The employee, who last worked Sunday, November 22, pass pre-shift employee screening and wore personal protective equipment as required. The employee is in quarantine at home.
Clay Center Presbyterian Manor will follow CDC and KDHE guidelines for when an employee may return to work. Under the current guidelines, symptomatic employees 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.
The Clay County Health Department and the Kansas Department of Health and Environment have been notified. We will follow their recommendations. Residents in all levels of living and employee surveillance testing will continue Monday, November 30.
Due to the number of cases Clay Center Presbyterian Manor is now considered a COVID-19 cluster. A cluster is two or more household cases of COVID-19 associated with a location during a specified period of time.
Outdoor visits and communal dining and group activities are on hold. Residents are encouraged to wear a face mask or cloth covering, maintain social distancing and wash their hands frequently.
All employees and residents are encouraged to follow CDC guidelines and best practices as these are continually updated. We have been screening employees as they enter the community building for a shift and before employees have any direct contact with residents. We educate all staff to stay at home if they are experiencing symptoms of a respiratory illness or not feeling well.
For more information about Clay Center Presbyterian Manor’s response, go to PMMA’s (Presbyterian Manors of Mid-America’s) website, presbyterianmanors.org/media-room.
