Michigan's two largest health care providers have about 2,200 staff members affected by Covid-19

By: CNN

Posted: Apr 7, 2020 11:17 AM EDT

Healthcare workers test a person at a COVID-19 drive-thru testing site at Henry Ford West Bloomfield Hospital, Wednesday, March 25, 2020, in West Bloomfield, Mich. By Ryan Young, Jake Carpenter and Eric Levenson, CNN

(CNN) -- About 2,200 workers in Michigan's two largest health care systems have coronavirus symptoms or have tested positive for the virus, a total that further hampers efforts to fight the pandemic and shows the dangers facing frontline workers.

Beaumont Health, Michigan's largest health care system with 38,000 employees, has about 1,500 staff members staying home because they have symptoms consistent with Covid-19.

"We are following CDC guidelines and asking staff to stay home when they are sick and/or have Covid-19 symptoms," Beaumont Health media relations director Mark Geary told CNN.

"These employees will stay home for a minimum of seven days and until they no longer have symptoms. They also must be free of fever and other symptoms for at least three days. During this period of time, we are not requiring employees to use their paid time off," Geary said.

In addition, Henry Ford Health System, a Detroit-based health care system with more than 30,000 employees, said about 600 to 700 staff members had tested positive for Covid-19.

Henry Ford's Chief Clinical Officer Dr. Adnan Munkarah said 734 employees -- 2.1% of the health system's workforce -- tested positive for the novel coronavirus since they started tracking healthcare workers coronavirus status on March 12.

Michigan has more than 17,000 confirmed coronavirus cases, the third-most of any state as of Tuesday morning. Over 727 people have died in the state so far.