Assisted living employee positive for coronavirus

    Lockdown protocols went into effect Tuesday afternoon at Parkview Assisted Living and Imperial Heights after an employee tested positive for COVID-19.
    Administrator Eric Haider said they took immediate action after the test result showed positive for COVID.
    Haider said they planned to begin allowing outside visitation on Oct. 1 at Parkview-Heights and the Imperial Manor. Those plans have been scrapped for at least several more weeks, he said.
    Haider emphasized the affected employee works strictly in the Parkview-Heights facilities and not in the Manor. No Manor employees have tested positive for the virus at this point.
    Over the last month, Haider said they have been testing employees weekly at both facilities. Until Tuesday, all employees had tested negative.
     Nursing homes in Nebraska have each received testing machines that offer results in 15 minutes. Haider said they have been using theirs to test employees since its arrival about a month ago.
    He explained the employee tested positive during weekly testing Tuesday after testing negative the prior Thursday.
    “We are being extra, extra cautious,” Haider said. The employee was removed from the facility immediately and sent to the hospital for further testing.
    Haider said this was done to ensure their machine did not produce a false-positive test for the employee. The second test results will be back in 48 hours after the testing.
    The doors between the Manor and Parkview-Heights were closed to keep the assisted living side isolated. No residents or employees can pass between the doors.
    Staff took immediate action to begin sanitizing Parkview-Heights, especially in areas where the employee had worked and other high contact areas.
    He said they consulted immediately with the Southwest Nebraska Public Health Department in McCook, the Nebraska Infection Control Assessment and Promotion Agency and the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
    These agencies provided guidelines for the facilities and what actions needed to be taken.

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