ManorCare Health Services said Tuesday night it was notified by the Pennsylvania Department of Health of a presumptive positive case of the coronavirus at one of its Easton area facilities.
The case was reported at ManorCare Health Services-Easton, 2600 Northampton St. in Palmer Township, a company spokeswoman said. The facility offers short- and long-term care as well as outpatient rehabilitation.
"Although the individual is not currently in the center, the health and well-being of our patients and employees remains our top priority," the spokeswoman, Julie Beckert, said in an email.
Presumptive positive means a test shows the patient was infected but that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has not confirmed the finding. ManorCare is not saying whether the case was in a patient or staff member, to protect the person’s privacy, Beckert told lehighvalleylive.com.
Pennsylvania coronavirus cases rose at their fastest rate yet over the last day, with 207 new COVID-19 patients as of midnight Monday bring the state’s total to 851, spread over 40 counties. There have been seven deaths in Pennsylvania -- two in the Lehigh Valley -- attributed to the pandemic.
Last week, Lehigh County officials announced a Sodexo food service employee at the Allentown campus of Cedarbrook Senior Care and Rehabilitation tested positive for COVID-19.
ManorCare, in a statement Tuesday night, said it has been taking significant precautions to minimize risks of COVID-19 to patients and employees, including having:
- Reported the situation to any other agency requiring disclosure and met with employees.
- Contacted the families or responsible parties of patients.
- Isolated any patients staff feels may be high risk, consistent with CDC guidance.
- Re-emphasized COVID-19 protocols many of which have been in place since January which include stopping group activities, monitoring patients and staff, minimizing any staff and patient interactions beyond the unit they are assigned, restricting visitation and monitoring any authorized visitors.
In addition, precautionary measures designed to protect the safety and health of patients, employees and visitors include:
- Holding all new admissions.
- Taking regular symptom and temperature checks of all residents, and reducing the temperature threshold to 99 degrees to better address any change in condition rapidly.
- Increasing sanitizing and cleaning processes.
- Reviewing all inventory for personal protective equipment (PPE) such as masks and gowns and educating staff on proper use and disposal.
“We are doing everything we can to minimize risks associated with COVID-19 in our facility,” states Toledo, Ohio-based HCR ManorCare Inc. "We are in very close communication with our medical director, clinical support team, local and state health officials about the appropriate steps to serve the best interests of our patients, employees and visitors. We are instructing our staff and patients to follow the recommended preventative actions.
“We feel we have very intense protocols in place including an isolation unit. Any non-essential partners will not be allowed in the center. No new admissions. We have talked to employees and families about the presumptive positive case. Temperature and symptom checks of all employees at least twice a shift. We have universal masking for employees and full PPE for those working on isolation unit. We have sanitizing, housekeeping and laundry guidelines in place along with processes for employees to remain safe. We are taking an abundance of precautionary measures to protect everyone.”
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Kurt Bresswein may be reached at kbresswein@lehighvalleylive.com. If there’s anything about this story that needs attention, please email him. Follow him on Twitter @KurtBresswein and Facebook. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
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