At least 81 employees of the National Institutes of Health have contracted the coronavirus, the agency said Tuesday.

An internal email sent to members of NIH's Office of Research Services team Tuesday and obtained by The Hill said 906 tests of NIH personnel had been conducted so far, including repeat testing of some of those who are among the confirmed cases.

In a statement, NIH said some of those who had tested positive had recovered and been cleared to return to work. It said NIH conducts contact tracing among any staffers who have come into proximity with those who contract the virus, and those contacts are asked to quarantine at home if their exposure constitutes a significant risk.

ADVERTISEMENT

None of the 81 NIH staffers who have contracted the coronavirus have died, according to the internal document.

Those NIH employees are among the 1,883 confirmed cases in Maryland's Montgomery County, just outside of Washington.

The NIH, headquartered just outside Washington in Bethesda, has about 20,000 employees across 21 institutes and six centers with varying specialties and responsibilities.