PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Salman Razvi
AU  - Rahima Oliver
AU  - Jonathan Moore
AU  - Andrew Beeby
TI  - Exposure of hospital healthcare workers to the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2)
AID  - 10.7861/clinmed.2020-0566
DP  - 2020 Nov 01
TA  - Clinical Medicine
PG  - e238--e240
VI  - 20
IP  - 6
4099  - http://www.rcpjournals.org/content/20/6/e238.short
4100  - http://www.rcpjournals.org/content/20/6/e238.full
SO  - Clin Med2020 Nov 01; 20
AB  - Healthcare workers (HCWs) are at higher risk of infection with the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and can also amplify outbreaks within healthcare facilities if they become ill. Certain groups are known to be at higher risk of contracting severe COVID-19 infection, such as men and people from Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) backgrounds. Identifying and managing HCWs who have been exposed to COVID-19 is of utmost importance in preventing healthcare transmission and protecting staff and vulnerable patients in healthcare settings. Recently, antibody testing to diagnose previous COVID-19 exposure among HCW has commenced in the UK. This provided an opportunity to assess exposure to COVID-19 among the various subgroups within the HCW community, based on their roles and ethnic background. We found that HCWs working in patient-facing roles were twice as likely to have been exposed to COVID-19 than their colleagues in non-patient-facing roles. Reassuringly, workers from BAME backgrounds had a similar risk of previous COVID-19 exposure to their white colleagues. More research is required to assess how frontline staff, especially those working in patient facing roles, can reduce their risk of exposure to COVID-19.