Epidemiology of COVID-19 infection amongst workers in Primary Healthcare in Qatar

Al Kuwari, M.; AbdelMalik, M.; Al Nuaimi, A.; AbdelMajeed, J.; Romaihi, H.; semaan, s.

Background: COVID-19 transmission was significant amongst Healthcare workers worldwide. Aim: This study aims to estimate the risk of exposure for COVID-19 across Primary Healthcare workers in the State of Qatar. Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted to study the burden of COVID-19 among staff working at PHCC during the COVID-19 pandemic from March 1 to October 31, 2020. Results: 1,048 (87.4%)of the infected HCWs belonged to the age group below 45 years, and 488 (40.7%) HCWs were females. 450 (37.5%) were HCWs clinical staff working in one of the 27 PHCC HCs; Despite the increased patient footfall and risk environment, the COVID HCs had an attack rate of 10.1%, which is not significantly different from the average attack rate of 8.9% among staff located in other HCs (p-value =0.26). Storekeepers, engineering & maintenance staff, housekeeping staff, support staff, and security staff (outsourced positions) had the highest positivity rates, 100%, 67.2%, 47.1%, 32.4%, and 29.5% respective positivity rates. Conclusions: The elevated risk of infection amongst outsourced healthcare workers can be explained by environmental factors such as living conditions. On the other hand, better containment within clinical healthcare workers can be attributed to strict safety training and compliance with preventative measures which is recommended to be implemented across all settings.