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COVID-19 in health care workers, Australia 2020
Citation
Rafferty, AC and Hewitt, MC and Wright, R and Hogarth, F and Coatsworth, N and Ampt, F and Dougall, S and Alpren, C and Causer, L and Coffey, C and Wakefield, A and Campbell, S and Pingault, N and Harlock, M and Smith, KJ and Kirk, MD, COVID-19 in health care workers, Australia 2020, Communicable Diseases Intelligence, 45 pp. 1-11. ISSN 2209-6051 (2021) [Refereed Article]
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Copyright Statement
© 2021 Commonwealth of Australia as represented by the Department of Health. This publication is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution- Non-Commercial NoDerivatives 4.0 International Licence from https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/legalcode
DOI: doi:10.33321/cdi.2021.45.57
Abstract
Background
Health care workers are at increased risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection due to potential exposure to patients or staff in health care settings. Australian health care services and health care workers experienced intense pressure to prepare for and respond to SARS-CoV-2 infections. We summarise national data on health care worker infections and associated outbreaks during 2020.
Methods
We collected aggregated data on infected health care workers and outbreaks in health care facilities from all jurisdictions. Health care workers working solely in residential aged care and outbreaks in residential aged care facilities were excluded. Jurisdictions provided data on the number of health care setting outbreaks, confirmed cases, hospitalisation, source of infection, and health care worker role. We analysed data for two periods that aligned with two distinct peaks in the epidemic relative to 1 June 2020, referred to here as the first wave (23 January 31 May 2020) and the second wave (1 June 18 September 2020).
Results
Jurisdictions reported a total of 2,163 health care worker infections with SARS-CoV-2 during the surveillance period. Source of acquisition was known for 81.0% of cases (1,667/2,059). The majority of cases in the first wave were acquired overseas, shifting to locally-acquired cases in the second wave. The odds of infection in the second wave compared to the first wave were higher for nurses/midwives (odds ratio, OR: 1.61; 95% confidence interval (95% CI): 1.322.00), lower for medical practitioners (OR: 0.36; 95% CI: 0.280.47) and did not differ for other health care workers (OR: 1.07; 95% CI: 0. 871.32). The odds of infection in the second wave were higher in a health care setting (OR: 1.76; 95% CI: 1.282.41) than in the community.
There were 120 outbreaks in health care settings with 1,428 cases, of which 56.7% (809/1,428) were health care workers. The majority (88/120; 73.8%) of outbreaks in health care settings occurred in the second wave of the epidemic, with 90.9% of these (80/88) occurring in Victoria.
Conclusions
In the second wave of the epidemic, when there was heightened community transmission, health care workers were more likely to be infected in the workplace. Throughout the epidemic, nurses were more likely to be infected than staff in other roles.
Item Details
| Item Type: | Refereed Article |
|---|---|
| Keywords: | COVID-19, coronavirus disease 2019, SARS-CoV-2, health care workers, Australia |
| Research Division: | Health Sciences |
| Research Group: | Public health |
| Research Field: | Public health not elsewhere classified |
| Objective Division: | Health |
| Objective Group: | Specific population health (excl. Indigenous health) |
| Objective Field: | Occupational health |
| UTAS Author: | Smith, KJ (Dr Kylie Smith) |
| ID Code: | 148565 |
| Year Published: | 2021 |
| Web of Science® Times Cited: | 2 |
| Deposited By: | Menzies Institute for Medical Research |
| Deposited On: | 2022-01-25 |
| Last Modified: | 2022-03-04 |
| Downloads: | 4 View Download Statistics |
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