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Wichita Presbyterian Manor reports good news about COVID-19 testing

Wichita Presbyterian Manor received good news for five employees tested for COVID-19 on August 5. All five employees were negative for the virus. All five employees were identified as at-risk through contact tracing when another employee tested positive for the virus earlier this week.

“The safety of our residents and employees is a top priority at Wichita Presbyterian Manor,” said Jeanne Gerstenkorn, PMMA’s infection preventionist and vice president for health and wellness. “We’re pleased that the precautions we’re taking were effective.”

Because all five employees tested negative, the Sedgwick County Health Department recommends the community continue with the preventive measures they have in place, including screening of employees and residents.

Wichita Presbyterian Manor will continue screening employees as they enter the community building at the beginning of their shift and before the employees have any direct contact with residents. These screening measures include taking staff temperatures and asking a set of questions about their health status, COVID-19 exposure risks and reviewing a list of COVID-19 symptoms. Employees who have a fever or report feeling unwell are not allowed to work and are asked to get tested for COVID-19 if they have symptoms of the disease. These measures have been in place since March 13 and continue to be updated as CDC guidance changes.

We encourage all staff members to follow CDC guidelines and best practices as these are continually updated.  

The positive employee is in quarantine and 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. Upon the employee’s return to work, we will follow CDC recommendations related to work practices and restrictions.

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

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