Vets Home member quarantined
By Robert Cloud
A resident of the Wisconsin Veterans Home in King tested positive for the coronavirus.
According to a May 24 letter. Commandant Tammy Servatius said testing of all residents and staff was planned at all veterans homes in the state.
“Unfortunately, I am disappointed to report that one member in MacArthur Hall has tested positive for COVID-19,” she said in the letter. “This is the first positive test of any member or employee at the Wisconsin Veterans Home at King.”
While this was the only positive test, other tests are still pending.
Servatius said the person who tested positive was asymptomatic, had not recently left the campus and had no recent visitors.
The member who tested positive has been moved to a quarantine area for COVID-19.
Only a limited number of staff will work with the member.
“These staff have been trained in infectious disease control and will be wearing the appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) including N95 masks and face shields,” according to Servatius.
The vets home staff will follow the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and state Department of Health guidelines for contact tracing, additional testing and quarantining others as necessary.
The veterans home has canceled public events, such as the Memorial Day services, screened all residents and staff for COVID-19 symptoms, conducted temperature checks of all visitors, residents and staff, and educated all members and staff about social distancing.
The facility is no longer accepting donations.
Staff are required to wear surgical masks, and members are strongly encouraged to wear cloth masks.
“Although this positive test result may cause you to be afraid or anxious, please know that we have been actively preparing for this situation for months,” Servatius said in her letter. “As soon as the severity of this virus became apparent in March, we set up a quarantine area in a vacant unit in Stordock Hall. We identified staff who would work in that unit. We catalogued our PPE to ensure we had an adequate supply (we do) and put in place measures to obtain more if necessary.”
Waupaca County COVID-19 numbers
According to county Health Officer Jed Wohlt, Waupaca County had a total of 28 positive cases.
Of those, 18 have recovered, nine are still active and one person has died from the coronavirus.
There are 77 tests still pending and 2,229 tests have been negative.