Two cases of COVID-19 detected at Newton Presbyterian Manor

One independent living resident and one non-direct resident care employee have tested positive for COVID-19 at Newton Presbyterian Manor in the last seven days.

“We remain committed to protecting the health and safety of our residents and staff,” said Jeanne Gerstenkorn, PMMA’s vice president for health and wellness and infection preventionist.

One non-direct care employee tested positive for the virus via rapid point-of-care (POC) testing on Saturday, January 23. The employee last worked on January 11, screening in prior to their shift and wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) while working. Due to the length of time since the employee worked prior to testing positive, no contact tracing was required.

An independent living resident, who does not live in the main campus building, tested positive Monday, January, 25. The campus offered voluntary testing to independent living residents after two residents reported they had tested positive for COVID-19 after exposure to a close contact who was positive for the virus. The independent living residents will self-quarantine in their residences until they are cleared by the health department to leave isolation.

The campus follows CDC and KDHE guidelines in determining when employees may return to work.  Under the current guidelines, the employee may return to work when at least 72 hours have passed since resolution of their fever without the use of fever-reducing medications and their symptoms have improved and at least 10 days have passed since symptoms first appeared. If asymptomatic, the employee or contractor must quarantine for at least 10 days before returning to work. Upon their return to work, we will follow CDC recommendations related to work practices and restrictions.

The Harvey County Health Department has been notified and recommends continuing with surveillance testing. The senior living community will follow any additional guidance the health department provides. The next round of employee surveillance tests will be administered Monday, February 1.

All employees and residents 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.

As the COVID-19 vaccine becomes available, it should play an instrumental role in eventually moving toward resuming our normal operations. Every person who receives the vaccine will strengthen the protection for all residents, staff and the community at-large. As the vaccine becomes more widely available, PMMA strongly encourages our families, employees and residents to carefully consider obtaining a vaccine for themselves as well as their loved ones.

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