2nd Presbyterian Manor Employee Tests Positive For Virus; County Cases Up To 59 With 32 Active

Arkansas City Presbyterian Manor. (Staff photo by Brady Bauman)

A second Arkansas City Presbyterian Manor non-direct resident care employee tested positive this week for COVID-19, according to a press release from the the senior living community Monday evening.

The employee is in isolation and quarantined at home.

The first employee to test positive was sent home on June 10 after reporting a potential exposure to a COVID-19 positive person through social contact. That employee was tested on June 15 and tested positive last Wednesday. 

The latest case involves an employee who last worked June 17. The employee was sent home after reporting feeling unwell.

“Our medical director, Dr. Paul Klassen, in consultation with the Cowley County Health Department, recommends testing all employees and residents for COVID-19 this week,” the press release stated. “The community will follow any additional guidance from the health department, and all local, state and federal agencies have been notified.”

Both employees who tested positive will remain in isolation until cleared 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, Presbyterian Manor says it will follow CDC recommendations related to work practices and restrictions.

Families and residents’ physicians have been called to alert them to the potential exposure and notify them of the planned testing.

Arkansas City 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 and the CDC on March 13.

“We encourage all staff members to follow CDC guidelines and best practices as these are continually updated,” the press release said. “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 employees to stay at home if they are experiencing symptoms of a respiratory illness or not feeling well.”

According to the City-Cowley County Health Departmental website Monday, 59 cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed in the county since the pandemic began with 32 considered currently active and 26 recovered.

An Ark City man who tested positive April 1 died a week later and remains the only death in the county connected to the virus.

So far, 1,354 people have been tested in the county since a national emergency proclamation was issued by the White House on March 13.

Cowley County has a population of 34,908 people as of July 2019, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Statewide, KDHE reported Monday 12,465 positive cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed across Kansas since March, including 1,056 hospitalizations, 259 deaths and 142,548 negative tests.

Since June 1, there has been an increase of 2,454 cases across the state and 42 more people have died.

Since last Wednesday, when the first Presbyterian Manor employee was announced positive with the virus, cases have increased by 784 statewide and deaths have increased by 12.

Kay County, Oklahoma, has recorded 80 cases so far and remains at seven deaths.