Photo by: Lawrence-Douglas County Public Health
LMH Health will evaluate all employees and patients in the skilled nursing unit, the hospital said in a press release. Because the employee was wearing personal protective equipment while working, the hospital said it expects the risk to patients to be "minimal."
LMH Health said it would notify all patients and families who may have been exposed. The affected employee contracted COVID-19 outside the LMH health center, the hospital said.
Douglas County has reported 494 COVID-19 cases as of Friday, an increase of five cases since Thursday.
In Douglas County, 357 of the 494 cases are inactive or beyond the infectious period, according to Lawrence-Douglas County Public Health.
Five patients at Lawrence Hospital had COVID-19 on Friday, two fewer than Thursday.
According to the Douglas County Community Scorecard, there were three outbreaks in Douglas County last week. An outbreak is defined as two or more cases that do not come from the same household with the same identified source of exposure. The scorecard also notes that 26 cases in the past week were due to community transmission: that is, the cases could not be linked to a known case, an outbreak, or a trip.
The Kansas Department of Health and Environment online map noted that 9,384 Douglas County residents had so far been screened for the disease. The county test rate per 1,000 people was 76.8.
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