More than 9,000 healthcare workers have contracted COVID-19 as of last week, CDC says

Healthcare workers who treat patients infected with the COVID-19 coronavirus are at risk of contracting the disease themselves due to frequent exposure and proximity to such patients.

New figures from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention detail the extent to which this is true, finding that 9,282 healthcare workers across the country are confirmed to have been infected.

Of those confirmed cases, 27 have died, according to numbers culled from February 12 to April 9. About 55% of all healthcare personnel who were infected only had contact with COVID-19 patients within the healthcare setting.

The vast majority of confirmed positive healthcare workers – 90% – were not hospitalized. Up to 5% of those who were hospitalized ended up in intensive care, while 10 of the 27 deaths were among those workers 65 years old or older.

The CDC warned that the data may not reflect the true scope of the problem, as uneven reporting of confirmed cases across the country has resulted in figures that likely underestimate the number of healthcare workers infected.

WHAT'S THE IMPACT?

The number of coronavirus cases among healthcare workers is expected to rise. While this is due in part to more communities experiencing widespread transmission, the nature of working in the healthcare field understandably contributes to the risk: About 45% of workers who tested positive lived in households or communities in which the virus was present, meaning they risk exposure on two fronts, both inside a healthcare setting and outside of it.

Compounding the problem is that transmission can come from unrecognized sources, including those who are asymptomatic or presymptomatic. Because of that, contact tracing after occupational exposures will likely fail to identify many healthcare workers who are at risk for developing COVID-19.

As with the general population, the higher a healthcare workers' age, the more likely they were to experience a severe outcome, although severe outcomes – including death – are possible at any age.

Preventative measures meant to staunch the spread among healthcare personnel include screening all workers for fever and respiratory symptoms at the beginning of their shifts, prioritizing such workers for testing, and discouraging working while sick by offering flexible and non-punitive medical leave policies.

The CDC said older healthcare personnel, or those with underlying health conditions, should consult with their healthcare provider and employee health program to better understand their risks. On hospitals' part, they should consider the enhanced likelihood of severe outcomes among older personnel when mobilizing retired workers to increase surge capacity, especially in light of a shortage of personal protective equipment. One consideration would be preferential assignment of retired workers to lower-risk settings such as telehealth, administrative assignments or clinics for non-COVID-19 patients.

THE LARGER TREND

PPE shortages, insufficient tests, slow results and a dearth of ventilators are all factors that contribute to risk of infection among healthcare workers, and these challenges play off each other in a toxic cycle, an Office of the Inspector General report found last week.

Hospitals said their most significant challenges centered on testing and caring for patients with COVID-19 and keeping staff safe. Severe shortages of testing supplies and extended waits for test results limited hospitals' ability to monitor the health of patients and staff, and widespread shortages of PPE are putting both groups at risk. Hospitals also said they were not always able to maintain adequate staffing levels or to offer staff adequate support.
 

Twitter: @JELagasse

Email the writer: jeff.lagasse@himssmedia.com