11/21 Reports employee, third-party contractor positive for COVID-19
As we continue to monitor daily cases of COVID-19 in St. Francois County, Farmington Presbyterian Manor received word today that an employee and a third-party contractor have tested positive for COVID-19.
The employee and contractor were administered rapid point-of-care tests on-site on Tuesday, October 27, which were positive. Those tests were confirmed today by standard COVID-19 testing. We follow Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidance and confirm any positive rapid test within 48 hours with a follow-up standard COVID-19 test.
The St. Francois Health Department has been notified and we will continue our weekly mass testing of residents and employees.
CMS requires surveillance testing of all employees, agency employees, volunteers, hospice, lab and therapy providers at our campus on a frequency determined by our county’s COVID-19 testing positivity rate. Based on our county positivity rate of 5 to 10 percent for COVID-19 tests, our campus has been testing employees once per week. We last tested on Monday, October 26.
The employee and contractor will recuperate at home.
We will follow CDC guidelines for when an employee or contractor may return to work. Under the current guidelines, symptomatic employees or contractors may return to work when at least 24 hours have passed since resolution of 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. Asymptomatic positive employees or contractors will quarantine for 14 days. Upon their return to work, we will follow CDC recommendations related to work practices and restrictions.
Farmington Presbyterian Manor continues to screen all employees as they enter the community building for a shift and before they have any direct contact with residents. In addition, staff members are wearing masks per CDC recommendations.
For more information about Farmington Presbyterian Manor’s response, go to PMMA’s (Presbyterian Manors of Mid-America’s) website, presbyterianmanors.org/media-room.
