At least 18 doctors reportedly tested positive for coronavirus after they attended a private party.

According to internal documents and hospital sources at University of Florida Health in Gainesville, 17 anesthesiology residents and one fellow contracted Covid-19 earlier this month.

A hospital official familiar to the situation told The Gainesville Sun that the outbreak occurred after a party at a private home. The official remained anonymous because UF Health prohibits employees from speaking to the press without prior authorization.

The party was reportedly held on July 10, although descriptions of the party conflicted. One person said it was a going away party for a resident, although another person said it was a party for incoming first year students with up to 30 residents in attendance.

Afterward, the chairman of anesthesiology at the University of Florida College of Medicine, Timothy Morey, emailed employees to report that the anesthesiology department suffered 18 new cases of the coronavirus. That email was later obtained by Fresh Take Florida, a news service run by the university’s college of journalism and communications.

In the email, Morey reportedly said the case included 14 junior residents, two senior residents, a fellow and an administrative employee. The anesthesiology department reportedly is made up of 100 residents, including 45 junior resudents.

‘UF Health educates its faculty, staff and students on best practices to help prevent the spread of Covid-19,’ the hospital’s chief communications officer, Melanie Fridl Ross, said in a statement.

‘Our goal is to minimize the spread of the illness on our campus and in our community, recognizing that it’s impossible to prevent all cases given the way pandemics naturally work.’

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