Presbyterian Village essential healthcare worker tests positive for COVID

A rapid point-of-care (POC) test uncovered a positive case of COVID-19 at Fort Scott Presbyterian Village over the weekend.

The case is an essential health care worker who last worked on Wednesday, November 4. The employee passed the pre-shift screening and wore personal protective equipment (PPE) as required. The employee reported experiencing signs and symptoms and was administered a rapid POC test Saturday, which was positive.

Presbyterian Village follows CDC guidelines and follows up a rapid test with a standard COVID-19 test within 48 hours for confirmation. That result was received Monday, November 9, and confirmed the positive diagnosis.

“As cases rapidly increase in Bourbon county, we remain vigilant in our efforts to protect the health and safety of our residents and employees,” said Jeanne Gerstenkorn, PMMA’s infection preventionist and vice president for health and wellness.

Through contact tracing, no other employees or residents were identified as meeting the definition of a close contact who was within 6 feet for 10 minutes or longer.

The Bourbon County Health Department has been notified. The health department recommends testing all residents and employees on Thursday, November 12, and again November 19 due to the possible exposure and the high positivity rate in Bourbon County.

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 are not feeling well.

The employee is quarantined and will not be allowed to work until they meet 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.

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