By KIRBY ROSS
Phillips County Review
PHILLIPSBURG — From the beginning of the coronavirus outbreak in Kansas in March, and on through the months of April, May and June, Phillips County dodged any real crisis.
There was one COVID infection of a worker at a Phillipsburg industrial plant, and a couple weeks later an employee at a retail store was diagnosed with the disease.
Several weeks after that there was a case in rural Phillips County. Three total infections in the entire county, with uncomplicated, uneventful recoveries made by all involved since then.
With it looking like residents of Phillips County might be able to hunker down and avoid the problems other states and nations have been afflicted with, in the middle of last week the unthinkable happened.
Not just unthinkable--almost inconceivable; the highly-contagious virus breached the safety protocols put in place at a local nursing home housing our most vulnerable citizens, swept through that facility, and began doing what it does--infecting people. At-risk people.
Word began spreading last Wed., July1, that the Logan Manor was having a COVID outbreak, and that four residents had been diagnosed. That number of new cases exceeded all the prior known cases in all of Phillips County for all of the months since the pandemic had begun.
But that was just the beginning. As of press time, the count was up to 17 residents--half the population of the Logan facility--and eight staff members.
Most of the infected residents are quarantined in their rooms. One was in such serious condition transport to Norton Hospital was necessary, followed by airlift to Kearney.
With the cluster still having the potential to continue growing, the direction it will take is a current unknown.
The Kansas Department of Health and Environment is now closely involved in the situation. To date, ten people being tested in the entire county in one week was a lot. With the new cluster outbreak, 115 Phillips Countians have now been tested in just the past seven day period -- with those being tested including nursing home residents, in-house nursing home staff, outside staff support, vendors, and others.
Broader contact tracing is also underway, with anyone who has come into close proximity also being tested.
Timeline
Wednesday, July 1
4 total cases identified in Logan Manor.
The Phillips County Health Dept. issued a statement asserting a cluster of four positive cases of COVID-19 had been identified at Logan Manor.
“This outbreak is confined to the nursing home. The assisted living has not been affected. There have been four positives amongst residents confirmed at this point. All staff and all residents are currently being tested,” reported Pete Rogers, Phillips County Public Health Officer.
Thursday, July 2
7 total cases identified in Logan Manor.
Rogers reported three more cases had been identified.
Said Rogers, “There have been seven positives amongst residents confirmed at this time. All staff and all residents have been tested and are awaiting results.”
Friday, July 3
25 total cases identified in Logan Manor.
This day saw a huge jump in numbers.
Reported Rogers, “Phillips County Health Department has identified another 18 positive COVID-19 individuals related to the cluster at the Logan Manor, Logan, Kansas.
“Eight of these cases are among staff members and there are ten additional residents who have tested positive for a total of 17 residents.
“All close contacts are being notified and are asked to quarantine. No additional information will be provided on the staff or residents. If you have been identified as a close contact, you will be notified.
“We continue to recommend using social distancing, wearing masks in public where social distancing is not likely, using good hygiene practices, limiting travel to essential needs, not traveling to hot spots and staying home if you are feeling ill or have a fever greater than 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit.”
How Did It Gain Entry?
One major point of investigation is determining how the virus breached the considerable safety measures put in place to keep it out.
In recent weeks, no visitors to Logan Manor have been permitted in, and staff workers are required to wear masks at all times.
When the staff comes to work, they have their temperature taken and then enter a restricted room to change from their street clothes to their working clothes. When they go home, the procedure is reversed.
In addition, prior to the outbreak residents had been kept apart from one another, and had been isolating, including eating, in their rooms. So how COVID spread from resident to resident to resident so many times when staff personnel were masked is a major question being looked into.
COVID-19 has not been present in Phillips County in several weeks, and now with its reintroduction -- a reintroduction into the most dangerous environment possible locally -- somewhere along the line the extremely critical safety protocol chain was broken, with the hunt now on to prevent it from happening again.
New Outbreaks Also In Norton, Graham and Ellis counties
With Logan being geographically located in the tri-county area of Phillips/Norton/Graham counties, it also bears mentioning that diagnosed Norton County COVID-19 infections jumped from 4 to 10 over the past week, and two cases emerged in Graham County. Graham had been free of COVID-19 for the entire duration of the pandemic until now.
Elsewhere, Ellis County, had an almost 50 percent jump in confirmed cases -- up from 21 to 30.