COVID-19 Clusters at Workplaces and its Transmission into Communities in Vietnam: A Novel Emerging Occupational Risk Factor at Work Due to Coronavirus Infection

Ngoan Tran Le,Tai Van Nguyen,Nhi Ngoc Yen Huynh ,Tuyen Kim Cat Vo ,Nguyen Ta ,Huy Thanh Dang ,Dai Duc Nguyen ,Minh Thien Nguyen

doi:10.31557/apjec.2020.3.1.27-33

Ngoan Tran Le, Tai Van Nguyen + Show 6 more

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https://doi.org/10.31557/apjec.2020.3.1.27-33

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Abstract

Aims: This study aimed to describe the characteristics of the workplace-related clusters of COVID-19 and its transmissions into communities in Vietnam. Methods and Material: We accessed the database of COVID-19 by the Ministry of Health, Vietnam. Variables included sources of infection, age, sex, nationality, the dates of onset of symptoms and discharge from hospitals, and ID of each patient tested positive with COVID-19. Information from each patient was linked to the sources of infection to identify workplace-related clusters. Among 314 patients, we excluded 43 cases related to two charter flights, the remaining 271 cases were eligible for the study.Results: The biggest cluster of hospital canteen included 26 workers and their 31 family members or hospital’s patients. The second biggest cluster included a pilot of the Vietnam airlines and other 16 patients who have close contact with him at the Bar Buddha at Ho Chi Minh City. A total of 87 patients (32.1% of 271 cases) were related to these workplace-related clusters. The suspected time and the clinical course was significantly longer in the workplace-related clusters than other patients (mean 6.52 vs. 4.05 days, p=0.0191) and (mean 28.71 vs. 20.52 days, p=0.0005), respectively. Conclusions: Because COVID-19 infection at workplaces was responsible for nearly one-third of the total patients, there was a novel emerged occupational risk factor at work due to coronavirus infection. Safety at the workplace in preventing COVID-19 transmission is highly needed.

Highlights

Since December 2019, COVID-19 has caused outbreaks of atypical pneumonia in Wuhan, China, which subsequently became a pandemic all over the world
We observed the differences with statistical significance regarding suspected time, mean clinical course, and clearance time between the non-work-related and the work-related clusters
Longer clinical course and clearance time suggested the complication of Covid-19 disease courses in the workplace-related cluster compared to non-workplace-related patients, which underscore the importance of proactive steps to appropriately prevent and control the disease spreading

Summary

Introduction

Since December 2019, COVID-19 has caused outbreaks of atypical pneumonia in Wuhan, China, which subsequently became a pandemic all over the world. By May 18, 2020, the disease had spread to 216 countries, areas, and territories, and WHO had recorded 4,628,903 cases of COVID-19 worldwide and attributed 312,009 deaths to the disease [1]. This disease was confirmed to be transmissible from person to person and seemed to cause clusters of disease in healthcare workers (HCWs) [2]. Vietnam, located in Southeast Asia, sharing the long border with China to the North was supposed to have a high risk of being affected by the pandemic. Given the geographical and demographical features, Vietnam is at a high risk of importing COVID-19 from oversea with the highest number of patients concentrated in Ha Noi and Ho Chi Minh City [6]

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