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Aberdeen Village announces two employees test positive for COVID-19

Two additional Aberdeen Village employees have tested positive for COVID-19. The employees are not involved in providing direct resident care. They are in isolation and recuperating at home.

The first employee last worked July 23, before attending a family event out of state. The second employee last worked July 30 and passed the employee screening. The second employee, who attended the same family event, was notified during the shift that family members who attended the event had tested positive for COVID-19. The second employee’s shift started at 6:30 a.m., and she was alerted about one hour into the shift.  The second employee reported to the supervisor and went home. The employees sought COVID-19 testing and we were notified of the positive results July 31.

“As it has always been, the safety of our residents and employees is our top priority,” said Jeanne Gerstenkorn, PMMA’s infection preventionist and vice president for health and wellness.

The Johnson County Health Department and Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) Epidemiology Hotline have been notified, along with all other required federal and state agencies. The Johnson County Health Department did not recommend contact tracing or testing of other employees due to the fact that the first employee had last worked on July 23; the second employee completed only an hour of the shift and had little contact with others; and contract tracing indicated that the exposure came from attendance at the family event out of state.  Aberdeen Village conducted contact tracing and identified one employee who had direct contact with the positive employee. The employee is in isolation and will be tested for COVID-19 next week.

Families, residents and employees have been notified the positive employee. The CDC has been notified of the positive test per CMS regulation.

The employee is 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.

Aberdeen Village 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. 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 staff to stay at home if they are experiencing symptoms of a respiratory illness or not feeling well.

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

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