Coronavirus exposure leads hundreds of Detroit health care workers to quarantine amid staffing concerns

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Hundreds of health care workers in part of a hospital system in Detroit, Mich., are currently not working after they either contracted the novel coronavirus or were exposed to it, according to a report. 

An estimated 576 of the 33,000 employees with Henry Ford Health System, a health care company in Metro Detroit, are said to be temporarily out of work due to COVID-19. 

“We are very concerned with the staffing shortage,” Henry Ford Health System Executive Vice President and Chief Clinical Officer Dr. Adnan Munkarah said, per local news outlet WDIV-TV, noting that at least two of the system’s six hospitals are more than 90% full. 

The news comes as hospitals in the state are already stretched thin for resources amid a spike in coronavirus-related hospitalizations. 

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As of Sunday, at least 4,141 people in the state were hospitalized due to COVID-19, according to estimates from the COVID Tracking Project. At least 855 in the state currently require intensive care. 

“It’s in the double-digits and it continues to be concerning, which means the number of affected people in the community continues to be high,” Munkarah added of the state’s positivity rate, which was estimated to currently be at 12.8%, per the COVID Tracking Project. 

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The U.S. last week reached a grim milestone when more than 100,000 patients were hospitalized due to the novel coronavirus for the first time since the outbreak began in early 2020. 

Across the nation, health systems have warned about nearing or reaching full capacity due to the novel coronavirus, with the Mayo Clinic going so far as to set up emergency room beds in the ambulance garage. Rhode Island opened a field hospital in Cranston, while New York is looking to expand capacity and North Texas just crossed the governor’s limit. Elsewhere residents brace for another lockdown as testing positivity rates increase.

Fox News’ Alexandria Hein contributed to this report. 

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