A COVID-19 Risk Assessment for the US Labor Force

Sammantha Maher; Alexandra E Hill; Peter Britton; Eli P Fenichel; Peter Daszak; Carlos Zambrana-Torrelio; Jude Bayham

Social distancing measures outside of urban centers in the United States are simplified by more physically spread out communities and a lack of public transport. However, workers in essential industries, such as hospitals, food systems and public services (utilities, public safety), 10 are less likely to be able to work from home (17) . Furthermore, workers in rural and urban essential industries where working from home is less frequently an option, are more likely to have social risk factors, such as lack of insurance coverage or inability to afford medical care (11) . This category of workers is also more likely to be in the bottom half of the income distribution, less likely to be white, and less likely to have a college degree (11) . Therefore, it is 15 possible that the workers in the US most vulnerable to COVID-19 exposure are also the workers at the highest risk of hospitalization or death. The interplay of social and health risk factors will be important when considering where to focus relief efforts.