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Abstract
Objectives To study prevalence of infection in essential workers of Madrid City Council by occupation, related characteristics, use of protective devices, risk perception, and main concerns about COVID-19 during lockdown.
Methods A total of 30 231 workers were PCR tested for SARS-CoV-2 infection. Information was collected on COVID-19-related symptoms, risk factors, preventive equipment, and risk perception. The crude prevalence was calculated for infection, use of protective devices, perceived risk and main concerns. Additionally, adjusted prevalence and prevalence ratios (PR) were estimated for these variables using logistic regression models with age, gender, occupation, epidemiological week and laboratory as confounding factors.
Results Overall prevalence of infection was 3.2% (95% CI 3.0% to 3.4%), being higher among policemen (4.4%) and bus drivers (4.2%), but lower among emergency healthcare personnel, firefighters, food market workers and burial services (<2%). Lower excess risk was observed in workers reporting occupational contact with COVID-19 cases only (PR=1.42; 95% CI 1.18 to 1.71) compared with household exposure only (PR=2.75; 95% CI 2.32 to 3.25). Infection was more frequent in symptomatic workers (PR=1.28; 95% CI 1.11 to 1.48), although 42% of detected infections were asymptomatic. Use of facial masks (78.7%) and disinfectants (86.3%) was common and associated with lower infection prevalence (PRmasks=0.68; 95% CI 0.58 to 0.79; PRdisinfectants=0.75; 95% CI 0.61 to 0.91). Over 50% of workers felt being at high risk of infection and worried about infecting others, yet only 2% considered quitting their work.
Conclusions This surveillance system allowed for detecting and isolating SARS-CoV-2 cases among essential workers, identifying characteristics related to infection and use of protective devices, and revealing specific needs for work-safety information and psychological support.
- COVID-19
- epidemiology
- occupational health
- public health
- public health surveillance
Data availability statement
Data are available upon reasonable request. Anonimous data will be available upon reasonable request, submitted to the corresponding author. Please note that the Ethical Committee must approve any data cesion.
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Data availability statement
Data are available upon reasonable request. Anonimous data will be available upon reasonable request, submitted to the corresponding author. Please note that the Ethical Committee must approve any data cesion.
Footnotes
BP-G and MP are joint senior authors.
Contributors MM-C, CML-D, BP-G and MP were responsible for the conception and design of the study. MM-C is the executive coordinator of the project and led the relationship with the Occupational Health Services of the Madrid City Council. BP-G and CML-D were in charge of statistical analyses and table and figure design. JF-P was responsible for PCR testing, laboratory procedures and quality control processes. MR was in charge of institutional issues and communication of results. MA was responsible for supervising the collection and transport of laboratory samples. MDR and MdLF were responsible for collecting questionnaire data. MJF, RR and AA were responsible for the study operation and logistics. MM-C, CML-D, BP-G and MP wrote the first draft of the manuscript. All authors contributed to data interpretation, critically reviewed the manuscript, approved the final version and agreed to be accountable for the work.
Funding This study was funded by the Madrid City Council.
Disclaimer The funders were involved in the study logistics but had no role in the study design or in the collection, analysis, interpretation of data, or the decision to submit the article for publication. Grant number: not applicable.
Competing interests None declared.
Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.
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