MIT Medical provider tested positive for COVID-19
An MIT Medical health care provider tested positive for COVID-19, MIT Medical Director Cecilia Stuopis ’90 wrote in an email to the MIT community Sept. 30.
Stuopis wrote that the affected individual “is isolating at home” and “doing well.” Additionally, MIT responded to the positive case with “swift action” including “contact tracing, communication with affected individuals, support for those in quarantine, deep cleaning of affected spaces, and appropriate coordination with local and state health authorities.”
Stuopis wrote in an email to The Tech that MIT Medical determined “through contact tracing” that the case was likely not contracted at MIT. Instead, “there was a clear episode that occurred off campus at a social gathering.”
Stuopis wrote that “it is not unusual for health care providers, in any setting, to contract COVID-19.” She wrote to The Tech that MIT Medical is keeping its health care providers safe with “special precautions” including “proper PPE [personal protective equipment]” and “environmental modifications and design.”
“For example, areas like the testing trailer are designed specifically to prevent viral transmission and keep both staff and patients safe,” Stuopis wrote. Additionally, “MIT Medical staff members are working in solo offices, avoiding group meetings, and staying apart whenever possible.”