20 COVID-19 Cases at Duke Raleigh Hospital

As hospitals and other healthcare facilities go to great lakes to ensure their employees have access to the COVID-19 vaccines rolling out nationwide, some are going further by mandating vaccinations for employees. For one North Carolina hospital, the debate is playing out again the backdrop of an outbreak within its walls.

The number of COVID-19 cases that can be traced to an outbreak at Duke Raleigh Hospital is now 20, and Duke Health System says it continues to search for others, according to The News& Observer. The cases have been traced to a fifth floor inpatient unit for surgical and cancer patients. The first was confirmed last weekend, and Duke announced the outbreak in a statement early last week.

The majority of those who have tested positive are members of the hospital staff, Duke officials said. Front-line health care workers have been eligible to get vaccinated against COVID-19 since mid-December, and a majority at Duke Raleigh Hospital have been, officials said. But Duke has not made vaccination mandatory, in part because the vaccines are approved for use by the Food and Drug Administration on an emergency basis.