Medical provider at family practice in Lexington positive for COVID-19. Patients notified.

A medical provider at Family Practice Associates of Lexington’s Hamburg office has tested positive for COVID-19, officials said Thursday on its website and Facebook page.

The post did not identify the medical provider at the large family practice. Craig Gillispie, CEO of the practice, declined to name him or give his condition but said he was in the hospital. Gillispie said no additional employee at the practice had tested positive.

Once the provider developed symptoms, they self-isolated and did not report back to work, the post said.

Family Practice Associates staff has been in contact with the Lexington-Fayette County Health Department and are following health department guidelines for follow-up with exposed patients, the post said.

Patients who were seen by the provider while they were contagious have been contacted for follow-up, the post said.

“If you did not receive a call, then you are not one of these patients,” said the post. “Based on what is known about how COVID-19 is spread, the health department feels that other patients who visited the Family Practice Associates of Lexington PSC office are at no higher risk than anyone else in the general public.”

Family Practice Associates has been following recommendations and guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control for infection control and patient safety during the pandemic. Staff have been deep cleaning offices throughout the day and wearing protective personal equipment including masks as recommended.

According to the local health department, COVID-19 is spreading in the community, the post said. Now that testing is more readily available, there will be more members of the community, including healthcare workers, who will test positive.

By Thursday night, there had been at least 248 cases of COVID-19 reported in Kentucky, 42 of them in Lexington.

People who have symptoms, such as fever, cough and chills, should call the practice office at (859) 278-5007 for further evaluation, the post said.

“We are taking every measure possible to limit risk to our staff and patients. Please be safe and practice social distancing and proper handwashing,” said the post.

Hollie Sands, an epidemiology coordinator at the Lexington-Fayette Health Department, said that when a health care worker tests positive, health department officials find out when they became symptomatic, when they last worked with patients and at what point they self-isolated. Sands said they work to get detailed information about who they were around.

Kathleen Winter, an assistant professor in the Department of Epidemiology at the University of Kentucky College of Public Health, said it’s also important to note what kind of personal protective equipment both the provider and patient were wearing. Winter said when a health care provider tests positive, people who might have been exposed are notified.

At least one drive-through testing facility in Lexington had earlier reported that 3 of 4 of its positive test results thus far were among health-care workers, sparking concern.

This story was originally published March 27, 2020 at 8:59 AM.