More than 700 staffers at multiple hospitals in the Detroit area, about 2 percent of the over 30,000 employees in the system, have contracted the coronavirus, BridgeMI.com reports.
Dr. Adnan Munkarah confirmed to the nonprofit news website that 734 workers in the Henry Ford Health System have tested positive for the virus, out of about 2,500 employees who have gotten results back. About 31,600 employees are in the area’s hospital system.
“If we are to test the whole population, you are going to see large numbers of people who are testing positive,” Munkarah said on a conference call with the press Monday afternoon. “Testing positive is just a measure of how contagious this virus is.”
Detroit is at the center of Michigan’s coronavirus outbreak, with 80% of the state’s cases being located in the Metro Detroit area, with 5,023 cases in the city alone out of 17,221 in the state.
Michigan Department of Health and Human Services said that they are not tracking how many healthcare workers have tested positive for the coronavirus.
“Our team members are our greatest asset and their health and safety is a top priority as we continue to respond to this pandemic,” Munkarah said, adding later, “we know we are not immune to potential exposure and we remain grateful for the courage and dedication of our entire team.”
Theodore Bunker ✉
Theodore Bunker, a Newsmax writer, has more than a decade covering news, media, and politics.
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