On Mar. 15, 2020, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) informed its staff that it had its first known case of an NIH staff member who has tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus.

The NIH reported the case to state and local public health officials. While this was an unfortunate development, it was not surprising, and NIH expected that there will be more cases of infection among NIH staff.