Nine doctors are sick with COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, Atlanta-based CNN anchor Dr. Sanjay Gupta said on air Tuesday. Gupta was quoting in part from e-mails he exchanged with Dr. Carlos del Rio, chairman of the global health department at Emory University and the dean overseeing physicians at Grady Memorial Hospital.
Del Rio assented as Gupta spoke.
» COMPLETE COVERAGE: Coronavirus in Georgia
» RELATED: Preparing for surge, hospitals limit visitors, reschedule surgeries
Del Rio told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in an email that the numbers are “not only doctors but may also include other healthcare workers and not all working at Grady.”
“I will tell you we will have more,” Del Rio said. “Transmission in Healthcare settings is well known with this virus.”
A spokeswoman for Grady reiterated that the nine “does not apply solely to healthcare workers at Grady.”
Gupta is a staff neurosurgeon at Emory Clinic. Emory University staffs physicians at Grady.
» RELATED: As hospitals fight to keep up, they tell mind cases not to seek tests
» MORE: Georgia's first senior care coronavirus cases reported
It was not immediately clear how many of the nine that Gupta spoke of were at Grady, Atlanta’s biggest safety net hospital and level 1 trauma center.
Gupta read, interspersed with comments: “Guys, this is happening. We are now seeing droves of patients being admitted with COVID-19…nine doctors now sick with 20 more expected tomorrow. The nine doctors who were sick tested positive for the coronavirus.”
About the Author
