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 at a press briefing. She said 93% of the cases are due to community spread and the other 7% are getting the virus at work, but not from the patients. Instead, staff members contract it while convening in the break room or cafeteria.

Work transmissions mostly happen when staffers eat and take their masks off, the Twin Cities Pioneer Press reported.

“It shows you how easy it is to get COVID-19 in the Midwest,” Williams said.

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 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.

In a statement to CNN, Kelley Luckstein, a spokesperson for the Mayo Clinic, feared that the staff's ability to treat patients is being hampered by an internal outbreak.

"Our staff are being infected mostly due to community spread, and this impacts our ability to care for patients," Luckstein said.

While patients in the hospital are of the utmost concern, Williams continues to worry about staff and said they are extremely important in treating positive COVID patients.

"There are three things you need to take care of any patient, but especially a patient with COVID-19 because they need very specialized care. You need space, supplies, and staff," Williams said.

"What we are most worried about is staff, because we see our staff being exposed and getting COVID-19, mostly in the community. Over 93% of those individuals who have had exposures to COVID-19, are exposed in the community, not at work."

Many hospitals were overwhelmed at the start of the pandemic but doctors say the situation has improved
Many hospitals were overwhelmed at the start of the pandemic but doctors say the situation has improved AFP / PEDRO PARDO
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