More than 900 staffers at the Mayo Clinic have reportedly been diagnosed with COVID-19 in the past two weeks.
Dr. Amy Williams, dean of clinical practices at the multi-state hospital system, announced the number on Tuesday during a call with reporters.
According to Williams, 93 percent of the cases in the clinic were contracted in community areas, such as break rooms, while employees were eating or partaking in other activities with their masks off, according to the Twin Cities Pioneer Press.
“It shows you how easy it is to get COVID-19 in the Midwest,” said Williams.
“Our staff are being infected mostly due to community spread, and this impacts our ability to care for patients. We need everyone in the communities we serve to do their part to limit the spread of COVID-19.”
Since the start of the pandemic earlier this year, 2,981 Mayo Clinic employees have been infected by the coronavirus.
The hospital system is already facing a shortage of staffers, and all of the ICU beds at its main Rochester, Minnesota, campus are currently full.
“All of our hospitals are really stretched,” Williams said. “But we continue to have capacity for anybody who needs our care.”
The hospital system is also managing a COVID-19 outpatient program where hundreds of people are being prescribed the antiviral drug remdesivir to help free up beds.