TOPEKA – Kansas Department of Corrections (KDOC) Secretary Jeff Zmuda announced Friday that one staff member at the Larned Correctional Mental Health Facility has tested positive for COVID-19.

The person is a female over the age of 40. In order to protect her identity, no other information will be released. Mandatory mask protocol for staff and residents was implemented on July 2.

The KDOC has been in consultation with officials from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment on next steps to address these circumstances. As a result of that consultation with KDHE, the following steps were implemented:

• Contact tracing was conducted to determine who among staff and residents have been in close contact with this individual

• The Pawnee County Health Department will conduct contact tracing to identify anyone outside of LCMHF who may have been in close contact with this individual and will notify those persons

• Testing will take place among select staff and residents as LCMHF continues work to control the spread

• KDOC will remain diligent in monitoring other staff and residents for symptoms

“As positive cases of COVID-19 continue to rise in our communities we know that more of our staff will come into contact with the virus,” Zmuda said. “We are thankful for their efforts to follow the guidelines of our public health officials both while at work and at home to keep our staff and residents safe.”

Larned Correctional Mental Health facility is a 598-bed, multi-custody programming facility. The facility consists of the Central Unit, which has the capacity to house 310 male maximum/medium-custody residents, the West Unit, with a capacity of 288 male minimum custody residents and the new Intake Isolation Unit, with a capacity of 64 residents.