Newton Presbyterian Manor employee tests COVID-19 positive

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For Harvey County Now

NEWTON – An employee at Newton Presbyterian Manor tested positive this week for COVID-19. The positive test places Presbyterian Manor’s reopening plans on hold.

The employee, who works in health care, passed employee screening for their shifts July 25 and 26 and wore personal protective equipment as recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The employee began to feel ill on Monday and sought COVID-19 testing on Wednesday, July 29. The campus was notified that the employee was positive for COVID-19 Wednesday evening.

“Our top priority continues to be the safety of our residents and staff members,” said Jeanne Gerstenkorn, PMMA’s infection preventionist and vice president for health and wellness.

The Harvey County Health Department has been notified of the positive test. The health department recommends testing all health care residents and all campus employees for COVID-19. The health department will test residents and employees on Monday, August 3.

At this time, no residents or employees are showing signs or symptoms of respiratory illness or COVID-19.

Families have been called to alert them to the potential exposure, and all state and county mandatory required reporting agencies have been notified.

All staff members 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 are not feeling well.

The employee is recuperating at home and must be COVID-19-free before returning to work. Presbyterian Mannor stated that they follow the current CDC guidelines.  Under the current CDC guidelines, the employee may return to work when at least 24 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.

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