A person identified as a “provider” at Johns Hopkins Hospital has tested positive for the new coronavirus, The Baltimore Sun has learned.
It was not immediately clear whether the person was among the 19 confirmed cases reported to date by state and county-level authorities in Maryland.
“The Maryland Department of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently confirmed, through testing, a provider at the Johns Hopkins Hospital who has the coronavirus disease known as COVID – , ”said Kim Hoppe, senior director of public relations and corporate communications for Johns Hopkins Medicine.
“The provider is currently at home recovering,” she added. “Out of an abundance of caution and per our institutional policies and discussion with state authorities, all patients, clinicians and staff who may have been in contact with the provider have been identified and instructed to self-quarantine as directed.”
Hoppe would not identify the patient, the patient’s gender or position at the medical institution. The term “provider” usually refers to a person who provides medical care or counseling services at a hospital or clinic.
“We remain committed to the safety of our patients, clinicians and our staff, and will continue to provide updates as this situation evolves,” Hoppe said.
Medical providers are considered to be at high risk for contracting the virus. Last week, officials in Connecticut reported that a doctor who had made rounds at Bridgeport Hospital had the virus while an employee of Hospitals in Danbury and Norwalk also tested positive for the virus. Both the doctor and the hospital employee are residents of New York.
As many as 25 health care workers in Washington state were monitored for the virus after a man in his 50 s died at a nursing facility in late February. Some nurses in Westchester County, New York were quarantined after a patient was treated at the Bronxville hospital where they work.
This story will be updated.
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