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. 2020 Nov 19;71(16):2109-2113.
doi: 10.1093/cid/ciaa588.

Analysis of the Infection Status of Healthcare Workers in Wuhan During the COVID-19 Outbreak: A Cross-sectional Study

Lichun Zheng  1 , Xiang Wang  1 , Chongchong Zhou  1 , Qin Liu  1 , Shuang Li  2 , Qin Sun  3 , Mengjia Wang  1 , Qian Zhou  1 , Wenmei Wang  1
Affiliations

Analysis of the Infection Status of Healthcare Workers in Wuhan During the COVID-19 Outbreak: A Cross-sectional Study

Lichun Zheng et al. Clin Infect Dis. .

Abstract

Background: Healthcare workers (HCWs) at the frontline are facing a substantial risk of infection during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak.

Methods: We acquired information and data on general information on and infection and death status of HCWs in Wuhan during the COVID-19 outbreak and completed statistical analyses.

Results: We obtained the data on 2457 infected cases among HCWs in Wuhan, China. More than half of the infected individuals were nurses (52.06%), whereas 33.62% of infected cases were doctors and 14.33% of cases were medical staff. In particular, the case infection rate of nurses (2.22%) was remarkably higher than that of doctors (1.92%). Most infected cases among HCWs were female (72.28%). A majority of the infected HCWs (89.26%) came from general hospitals, followed by specialized hospitals (5.70%) and community hospitals (5.05%). The case infection rate of HCWs (2.10%) was dramatically higher than that of non-HCWs (0.43%). The case fatality rate of HCWs (0.69%) was significantly lower than that of non-HCWs (5.30%).

Conclusions: The infection risk of HCWs is clearly higher than that of non-HCWs. HCWs play an essential role in fighting the pandemic. The analysis of the infection status of HCWs is essential to attract enough attention from the public, provide effective suggestions for government agencies, and improve protective measures for HCWs.

Keywords: COVID-19; healthcare workers; infection.

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Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Laboratory-confirmed date and cumulative case number of HCWs with COVID-19 in Wuhan from 4 January to 12 March 2020. Daily numbers of laboratory-confirmed cases are plotted by date of laboratory confirmation (blue) and cumulative percentage of laboratory-confirmed cases (red). Major epidemic response actions taken by the Chinese government are shown in arrows of different colors. Abbreviation: COVID-19, coronavirus disease 2019; HCW, healthcare worker; SARS-CoV-2, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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