KDHE reports COVID-19 outbreak at Genesis Health Clubs gym

Hailey Phillips, The Manhattan Mercury, Kan.
·2 min read
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May 7—The Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) reported a coronavirus outbreak at Genesis Health Clubs gym in Manhattan.

KDHE recorded five positive cases of coronavirus over the last two weeks stemming from the outbreak.

The gym was still open as of Friday.

Jake McCabe, vice president of marketing for Genesis, said three employees socialized together in Aggieville; he said he does not know about the other two cases, whether they are employees or gym members, at this time.

"That's where we believe the transmission happened," he told The Mercury on Friday afternoon.

At least two of the employees returned to work, McCabe said. Genesis Health Clubs followed all Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance and required employees to isolate for 10 days, he said. He said all employees wear masks and social distance.

"We believe it to have happened in Aggieville and we went with the enhanced sanitization protocols and our normal screening measures for all employees and did contact tracing to make sure no one else was exposed," he said.

The club is not aware of any transmission happening in the gym itself, McCabe said. He added he thinks it's misleading to call it an outbreak at the club.

Genesis Health Clubs gym, at 2704 Allison Ave., opened to the public in March after six years of delays.

In addition, KDHE on Friday reported a case of the United Kingdom coronavirus variant in Riley County. Geary County has reported 11 cases of variants while Pottawatomie County has confirmed four, all U.K. variants, according to KDHE.

KDHE said Kansas confirmed 467 new coronavirus cases, 62 hospitalizations and 17 deaths since Wednesday, according to the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE).

KDHE said Kansas' coronavirus total Friday was 310,582 cases, 10,374 hospitalizations and 5,016 deaths.

Geary County recorded 10 new cases since Wednesday for a total of 3,389 since March. Pottawatomie County on Friday confirmed a total of 1,898 cases, an increase of three since Wednesday.

The Riley County Health Department does not release local data on Fridays. The next update is Wednesday.