Open AccessCOVID‐19 drive‐through testing survey: Measuring the burden on healthcare workers
Author(s) -
Smith Aaron A.,
Akerson Joie,
Danahey James,
Dinh Tam N.M.,
Porter Paul S.
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
journal of the american college of emergency physicians open
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2688-1152
DOI - 10.1002/emp2.12286
Subject(s) - medicine , health care , logistic regression , personal protective equipment , public health , telephone survey , covid-19 , infection control , family medicine , emergency medicine , environmental health , demography , disease , infectious disease (medical specialty) , nursing , surgery , business , marketing , sociology , economics , economic growth
Objective To survey individuals who tested positive for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‐CoV‐2) at 1 of 4 Trinity Health of New England drive‐through testing centers to assess their demographic information, hospitalization rate, preexisting conditions, possible routes of exposures, duration of symptoms, and subsequent household infections of healthcare workers (HCWs) when compared to non‐HCWs. Methods Data were collected via a telephone survey using a standardized script. Between March 1, 2020 and June 17, 2020, 28,903 people were tested at 4 Connecticut drive‐through testing centers. Individuals who tested positive between March 16 and April 21, 2020 were randomly contacted. Of those individuals, 100 people agreed to complete the survey. Bivariate analysis and logistic regression were performed. Results HCWs comprised 46% of the 100 survey respondents during the study period. Similarly, HCWs comprised 42.1% of all individuals who tested positive and listed an employer between March 1 and June 17, 2020. HCWs reported a longer duration of symptoms (17.39 vs 13.44 days) and were more likely to report work as their route of exposure (80.4% vs 27.8%) than non‐HCWs. Conclusions HCWs may face a disproportionate risk of contracting COVID‐19 and self‐report a longer duration of symptoms than the general public. The data suggest a need for an increased recovery time away from work than is currently recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as well as an increase in infection precautions for HCWs.