ALBANY — Forty-five health care workers across the Albany Medical Center health system have tested positive for COVID-19, with roughly one-third of them contracting the novel coronavirus on the job, hospital officials said.

Fred Venditti, executive vice president for system care delivery and hospital general director, said that 141 workers who’ve been exposed to the virus are wearing masks and checking their temperatures twice a day.

“If you think about it, we employee 10,000 people — to only have 45 health care workers positive for COVID-19 — it’s a pretty small number,” he said in a video posted to the hospital’s YouTube channel Monday evening.

It was the first time that Albany Med has publicly disclosed the number of employees who have tested positive.

Venditti and incoming Albany Med President and CEO Dennis McKenna, who are providing near-daily coronavirus updates on the hospital’s YouTube channel, said they decided to discuss the issue after getting an email from a nurse who wanted more information about workers who test positive.

“It’s something that we’re definitely not withholding but haven’t touched upon,” Venditti said.

Latest coronavirus-related cancellations, postponements

The latest coronavirus numbers in NY

Sign up for the Times Union coronavirus newsletter

Full coronavirus coverage

Albany Med employees who test positive for the virus must be out of work for at least seven days from the onset of symptoms, McKenna said, noting that this follows state Department of Health guidance. They also must be fever-free for at least 72 hours without taking any fever-reducing medication. When they do come back, he said, they have to wear a mask for up to 14 days from the onset of symptoms.

“And we won’t let someone come back to work without being cleared by Employee Health Services and epidemiology, and we track them going forward,” he said. “So as we have employees who are positive, we put them out safely and we return them safely.”

Some Albany Med staff have expressed concern, however, that not enough precautions are being taken for staff who are exposed to the virus.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated interim guidance on March 7 setting monitoring and work restrictions for health care practitioners who are exposed to confirmed cases.

Restrictions — such as whether they must quarantine for 14 days or monitor for symptoms — depend on the length of time a worker was exposed to a positive case, how closely they were in contact with a positive case, whether they were exposed to respiratory secretions or aerosols, and whether they or the person who tested positive were wearing certain protective gear.

One nurse who agreed to speak to the Times Union on condition of anonymity said that a number of staff had close contact with a baby who tested positive in the hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit last week, but were deemed “low risk” for exposure, even though some of the contact included feeding the baby.

No work restrictions are imposed on health care workers who are deemed to have had low-risk exposure, though some may have to self-monitor for symptoms under "delegated supervision," according to the CDC guidance.

"Nurses are angry and frustrated and scared," the nurse said. "We have family members we are putting in danger and we feel we are not being protected by our employer."

Albany Med spokeswoman Sue Ford said the hospital is following local and state health guidance when it comes to assessing exposure risk. That guidance considers exposure to asymptomatic COVID-19 cases "low risk," she said.

"In addition, all members of our clinical staff are screened twice daily for fever and symptoms," she said. "Staff who develop a fever or symptoms must immediately mask, stop working and report to their manager."

Are you working the front lines in the fight against COVID-19 in the Capital Region? The Times Union wants to hear from you. Contact reporter Bethany Bump at bbump@timesunion.com with comments or concerns.