Brooks Place employee who tested positive has recovered

Published 3:09 pm Thursday, November 5, 2020

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An employee of Rose Mary C. Brooks Place in Winchester tested positive two weeks ago for COVID-19, but has recovered and been cleared to return to work.

None of the residents of the assisted living community have had the virus or had a positive test.

“We had one positive staff member, but they have been released from the Health Department’s protocol, and they have recovered,” Tim Janes, executive director, said Thursday morning.

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All staff are tested every Tuesday.

He said the staff member was immediately sent home when they tested positive, but have since returned to work after the Health Department released them.

Janes said the retirement home is following the recommendations of the Clark County Health Department, the state Department for Public Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and has been since the beginning of the pandemic. All employees must wear masks in the building and use hand sanitizer, and visits inside the building have been limited to personal caregivers.

“As of today, families can visit with our residents on our patio, and there’s a glass between them to protect the residents,” Janes said.

Those visits must be scheduled.

Besides the patio visits, which had been halted for two weeks because Brooks Place had a staff member who tested positive, family members have been allowed to do “window visits,” Janes said.

“We have residents who are the age group that’s most affected by the virus, so we’re doing everything we can to keep them safe by following the recommendations of the Health Department, Kentucky Public Health and the CDC,” Janes said.

“We’ve been very fortunate because we have a great staff, and we’ve had some real longevity with our staff members, and they take it very seriously to try to protect themselves and their families, and of course that helps protect our residents and their families,” he said.

About Randy Patrick

Randy Patrick is a reporter for Bluegrass Newsmedia, which includes The Jessamine Journal. He may be reached at 859-759-0015 or by email at randy.patrick@bluegrassnewsmedia.com.

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