St. Marys Manor residents and staff test positive for COVID-19

Update: As of February 15, 16 residents and 9 staff members have tested positive for COVID-19.

Ten residents and four staff members at St. Marys Manor have tested positive for COVID-19 since January 28.

According to Lura Flentie, director of Long-Term Care Services at Community HealthCare System, or CHCS, all residents, family members, and state authorities have been informed according to Kansas Department of Health and Environment and Pottawatomie County Public Health guidelines.

All but one of the residents have been vaccinated against COVID-19, but they were infected before they were able to receive their second dose and attain full immunity. The remaining resident chose not to receive the vaccine.

“Vaccine recipients don’t develop full immunity until two weeks after receiving the second dose of vaccine, and we believe these residents were infected just before they received their second dose,” Flentie said.

Two residents have been transferred to the hospital. Other residents are being monitored closely.

Flentie said she is hopeful that the residents who were vaccinated will experience less severe illness. She also expressed optimism about available treatments.

“We are now able to treat residents with monoclonal antibodies along with other medications. Three residents have received monoclonal antibodies in the hospital at St. Marys. This option wasn’t available earlier in the pandemic, and we hope our residents will have better outcomes as a result,” Flentie said.

Todd Willert, CHCS CEO, said that St. Marys Manor has worked diligently to mitigate COVID-19 spread and protect residents, but that uncontrolled community spread in the area made it more difficult.

“Despite a recent decrease in COVID-19 cases in Kansas, we know some communities still have uncontrolled spread. The cases at St. Marys Manor underscore the need for everyone to remain serious about taking all possible precautions until a high proportion of the population can be vaccinated and those vaccines can take effect,” Willert said.

St. Marys Manor is currently closed to visitors, and residents are quarantined to their rooms.

CHCS has a universal mask policy and continues to screen all patients and visitors to all facilities. Associates are screened daily before reporting to work according to guidelines from KDHE. Those who do not pass the screening questions are asked not to report to work, and procedures are in place to monitor employees who become ill or who test positive for COVID-19.

Anyone with a fever, cough, shortness of breath, diarrhea, loss of sense of smell and taste, and/or headache, or who suspects exposure to COVID-19, should contact a medical provider or one of our clinics for the best way to proceed with care. All are urged to wear masks when out in public, comply with social distancing guidelines, and wash hands often.

Phase 2 COVID-19 vaccinations are in progress around the state for individuals age 65 and up or who work in specific industries or occupations. Those who wish to receive the vaccine should sign up with their county public health department. Find more information about the vaccine.