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Topeka announces employee has tested positive for COVID-19

Topeka Presbyterian Manor announces that a non-direct resident care employee has tested positive for COVID-19.

“The safety of our residents and staff members continues to be our highest priority at this time,” said Jeanne Gerstenkorn, PMMA’s infection preventionist and vice president for health and wellness.

The Shawnee County Health Department and the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) Epidemiology Hotline have been notified. The health department recommends contact tracing and testing residents and employees who had close contact with the COVID-positive employee. One PMMA corporate employee was identified as a close contact and is now in quarantine. No other employees or residents were identified through contact tracing.

Because the employee was not involved in providing direct care, this positive case will not affect our reopening plans.

The employee who tested positive for the virus is recovering at home and will remain in isolation until cleared to return to work by the Health Department. Per CDC guidelines, team members may return to work once they have been symptom free for 72 hours without the aid of a fever reducer and demonstrate improvement in respiratory symptoms, and at least 10 days have passed since symptoms first appeared.  Upon their return to work, we will follow CDC recommendations related to work practices and restrictions.

Presbyterian Manor implemented a strict no visitor policy at the community and discontinued group activities and communal dining for the entire campus per guidelines released by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and the CDC on March 13.

All employees are encouraged to follow CDC guidelines and best practices as these are continually updated. The community regularly reinforces with all staff that an employee should not report to work if he or she is experiencing symptoms of a respiratory illness or not feeling well.

For more information about Topeka Presbyterian Manor’s response, go to PMMA’s (Presbyterian Manors of Mid-America’s) website, presbyterianmanors.org/media-room.

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