More than 3,000 caregivers across the Cleveland Clinic health system were out with COVID-19 as of Dec. 30, a spokesperson told Becker's.
That's about 4 percent of Cleveland Clinic's 70,000 caregivers. The system has about 56,000 employees in Ohio. Angela Smith, a spokesperson for the health system, said the majority of employees out with COVID-19 are vaccinated and are asymptomatic or have mild illness.
"This number [3,000] includes our whole health system and includes both clinical and nonclinical caregivers," Ms. Smith added.
On Dec. 28, the system said its Ohio hospitals are seeing high volumes of hospitalized COVID-19 patients and revised its timeline for the resumption of nonurgent procedures in the state to mid-January.
"We continue to urge our communities to take precautions and receive their COVID-19 vaccine, as the majority of our patients hospitalized with COVID-19 are unvaccinated," the Dec. 28 statement said.
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine on Dec. 17 announced 1,050 National Guard members would be mobilized to help with healthcare staffing shortages. Of those, 150 will help meet critical needs at hospitals and testing locations.
As of Dec. 29, about 55 percent of Ohio's population was fully vaccinated, making it among 15 states with the lowest vaccination rate.