Mayo Clinic: 905 staff members diagnosed with COVID-19 in past 2 weeks

More than 900 staff members in the Mayo Clinic Health System in the Midwest have been diagnosed with COVID-19 over the last two weeks as the virus continues to surge across the region, officials said. Dr. Amy Williams, executive dean of Mayo Clinic Practice, said that the 905 newly diagnosed employees account for 30% of all staff that have contracted COVID-19 since the pandemic began.

Williams said 93% of the cases are due to community spread, CBS Minnesota reports. The other 7% are getting the virus at work, but not from the patients. Instead, staff contract it when they "let their guard down" in the break room or the cafeteria when they eat or take off their mask, she said.

"It shows how widely spread this is in our communities and how easy it is to get COVID-19 in the communities here in the Midwest," she said.

In total, about 1,500 Mayo Clinic staff are out due to a COVID-19 diagnosis or exposure, Williams said. That number has been roughly unchanged over the last week, as some staff have returned while others go out.

CBS Minnesota reported that the affected employees were located in Minnesota and Wisconsin. The health system also has locations in Iowa.

NOVEMBER 20, 2020

https://www.cbsnews.com/