At least one Duke University Hospital employee has tested positive for coronavirus and was possibly exposed to patients, WRAL first reported.
Sarah Avery, director of Duke Health's news office, wrote in an email that the health system does not have any evidence at this time that any patients contracted COVID-19 from exposure health care workers.
"If one of our health care workers tests positive for COVID-19, our employee health and infection prevention experts evaluate the circumstances of the work and clinical environment," she wrote. "Based on CDC and other expert guidance, any potentially affected patients and staff would be notified of a workplace exposure and managed appropriately, which occurred in this situation."
Avery told WRAL that DUHS has had coronavirus-positive staff members due to spread of COVID-19, but at a lower rate than that of community members and DUHS patients.
A Duke Health employee had previously tested positive for COVID-19 March 20, but was reportedly not in contact with patients.
Editor's Note: This story was updated at 8:54 p.m. with Avery's comments to The Chronicle.
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Stefanie Pousoulides is The Chronicle's Investigations Editor. A senior from Akron, Ohio, Stefanie is double majoring in political science and international comparative studies and serves as a Senior Editor of The Muse Magazine, Duke's feminist magazine. She is also a former co-Editor-in-Chief of The Muse Magazine and a former reporting intern at PolitiFact in Washington, D.C.