Initial estimates of COVID-19 infections in hospital workers in the United States during the first wave of pandemic.
| Publication Type | Academic Article |
| Authors | Razzak J, Bhatti J, Tahir M, Pasha-Razzak O |
| Journal | PLoS One |
| Volume | 15 |
| Issue | 12 |
| Pagination | e0242589 |
| Date Published | 12/04/2020 |
| ISSN | 1932-6203 |
| Keywords | COVID-19, Coronavirus Infections |
| Abstract | OBJECTIVE: We estimated the number of hospital workers in the United States (US) that might be infected or die during the COVID-19 pandemic based on the data in the early phases of the pandemic. METHODS: We calculated infection and death rates amongst US hospital workers per 100 COVID-19-related deaths in the general population based on observed numbers in Hubei, China, and Italy. We used Monte Carlo simulations to compute point estimates with 95% confidence intervals for hospital worker (HW) infections in the US based on each of these two scenarios. We also assessed the impact of restricting hospital workers aged ≥ 60 years from performing patient care activities on these estimates. RESULTS: We estimated that about 53,000 hospital workers in the US could get infected, and 1579 could die due to COVID19. The availability of PPE for high-risk workers alone could reduce this number to about 28,000 infections and 850 deaths. Restricting high-risk hospital workers such as those aged ≥ 60 years from direct patient care could reduce counts to 2,000 healthcare worker infections and 60 deaths. CONCLUSION: We estimate that US hospital workers will bear a significant burden of illness due to COVID-19. Making PPE available to all hospital workers and reducing the exposure of hospital workers above the age of 60 could mitigate these risks. |
| DOI | 10.1371/journal.pone.0242589 |
| PubMed ID | 33275599 |
| PubMed Central ID | PMC7717542 |