HERE WE GO AGAIN!!   PARK MANOR RETURNS TO OUTBREAK STATUS

Park Manor has returned to COVID outbreak status today, May 5^th.  As part of our routine employee testing, we identified a direct care employee that was positive for the COVID-19 infection. We immediately took the following actions (as directed by the Wisconsin Department of Health Services):

1. Placed residents on our second floor 600 and 700 wings on precautionary quarantine that will continue until May 17^th. The caregiver who was positive worked in these units on the weekend making it necessary to quarantine the residents for their safety.
2. Tested all current residents, vaccinated and unvaccinated, for COVID using a rapid point of care device. We are happy to let you know that all residents are COVID negative. We will continue to monitor all residents for signs and symptoms of COVID, as we have done for the last year.
3. Planned employee testing for tomorrow using a rapid point of care test system.
4. Discontinued indoor visiting pending the results of initial testing. With all resident tests being negative today, if all staff are negative on Thursday, visits will be started again. Should an additional individual test positive, indoor visits, other than for compassionate care, will be discontinued until our outbreak is over. We do continue to have patio/window visits and social media visits available for everyone.
5. Determined no changes were necessary to resident activities within the building as we have continued to practice appropriate COVID prevention measures at all times.
6. Determined we can continue to admit residents to Rivers Edge Rehab and Park Manor. In addition, residents who are fully vaccinated will not need to be quarantined when they are admitted.

As a result of our return to outbreak status, Park Manor will beginning testing residents and staff two times per week for at least the next two weeks. If we have no further positive test results, the outbreak could be discontinued as soon as Tuesday, May 18^th.

The majority of our residents and many of our staff have been vaccinated for COVID. Unfortunately, the majority of individuals in our community have not been vaccinated. As a result, it is possible we will continue to see these minor outbreaks resulting from a single, non-vaccinated employee being infected with COVID in the community.  We will continue to follow the direction of the CDC and CMS when an outbreak occurs. We will also continue with all of the core principles of COVID-19 infection prevention including the following:

1. Screening of all who enter Park Manor for signs and symptoms of COVID-19 and denying entry to any person with signs and symptoms of COVID or who have been in close contact with a COVID-19 infection in the last 14 days, regardless of vaccination status.
2. Hand hygiene performed using alcohol based hand rub or hand washing.
3. Use of face masks that cover the mouth and nose.
4. Social distancing of at least six feet maintained between people.
5. Continued education to residents and visitors on COVID-19 infection prevention.
6. Cleaning and disinfecting high-frequently touched surfaces in facility and visiting areas.
7. Use of appropriate PPE by staff, residents and visitors.
8. COVID screening of residents and staff according to Wisconsin DHS guidelines.

Please do not hesitate to contact us at Park Manor if you have questions about the outbreak, visiting or any other topic of concern to you.   Thank you for your continued support!           Sharon Schultz