More than 900 Mayo Clinic staff members in the Midwest have been diagnosed with Covid-19 in the past two weeks.
A Mayo Clinic spokeswoman said in an email to NBC News that about one-third of the 2,981 coronavirus cases in its Midwest staff – from Minnesota and Wisconsin locations of the nationwide medical system since the epidemic began in March.
Ginger Plumbo said most of the employees who tested positive tested positive for the virus in a “community spread”.
Around the Midwest, the Mayo Clinic currently has about 1,500 employees who have work restrictions related to COVID-19 exposure or are unable to work due to a COVID-19 diagnosis, Plumbo said in a statement.
He said the recent outbreak had forced the medical center to shift health professionals to the state line due to staff shortages – and would also call retired employees back into service.
“We’re bringing back people who have retired from recent retirement, research nurses are temporarily coming into the role of patient care and bringing in staff from our other sites,” Plumbo said.
He added that the Mayo Clinic is reducing alternative care and is reorganizing its staff to assist staff related to Covid-19.
Amy Williams, dean of clinical practice at the Mayo Clinic, told a news conference Tuesday that its intensive care unit at the Rochester, Minnesota, campus has full capacity with 32 Covid-19 patients and hopes to expand the center by a dozen. Bed, St. Paul Pioneer Press Report.
“It’s not good,” Williams said. “It tells us we’re on the upswing.”
Williams said the recent outbreak of Covid-19 in staff is an example of how transmissible the virus was.
“It shows you how easy it is to get COVID-19 in the Midwest,” Williams said. “Our staff is largely infected due to community outbreaks, and this affects our ability to care for patients.”
“Everyone in the communities we participate in needs to limit the spread of COVID-19,” he urged.
