Aberdeen Village employee has tested positive for COVID-19

A non-direct care employee of Aberdeen Village has tested positive for COVID-19 as part of ongoing surveillance testing at our community.

The employee last worked earlier today and was sent home upon learning of the positive test result. They screened in prior to working and wore personal protective equipment (PPE).

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) mandated surveillance testing of our employees, volunteers and contractors beginning September 2, 2020. Based on our county positivity rate for COVID-19 tests, our campus is testing employees once a week.

Employees were last tested on Tuesday, October 6, resulting in this positive test.

The Johnson County Health Department and Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) Epidemiology Hotline have been notified and recommend testing all health care residents once per week over a period of two weeks, beginning on October 12. We will follow their recommendations.

The employee will isolate at home and is asymptomatic at this time.

“We remain vigilant in the face of this ongoing threat,” said Jeanne Gerstenkorn, PMMA’s infection preventionist and vice president for health and wellness.

We follow CDC and KDHE guidelines for when an employee or contractor may return to work. Under the current guidelines, symptomatic individuals may return to work when at least 72 hours have passed since resolution of the individual’s fever without the use of fever-reducing medications and the individual’s symptoms  have improved and at least 10 days have passed since symptoms first appeared. Asymptomatic positive individuals will be asked to quarantine as directed by the local health department. Upon the individual’s return to work, we will follow CDC recommendations related to work practices and restrictions.

All employees are encouraged to follow CDC guidelines and best practices as these are continually updated. We have been screening individuals as they enter the community building for a shift and before individuals 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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