Abstract
To determine risk-group-specific rate of becoming COVID-19-positive among healthcare workers having had contact with COVID-19 cases. The retrospective cohort study was conducted at the Ege University Hospital, Bornova, Turkey, and comprised all healthcare workers who had come into contact with COVID-19 cases between March 11 and May 31, 2020. The contacts were classified as low-risk, medium-risk and high-risk using the guidelines of the Turkish Ministry of Health. The outcome measures were the incidence of infection among contacts and the incubation period and serial interval among the new cases. Data was analysed using SPSS 23. Of the 845 cases, 312(37%) had high risk, 263(31%) medium and 270(32%) low. Overall, there were 490(58%) females, 355(41%) males, 565(67%) aged <40 years, and 277(33%) aged >40 years. Of the total, 27(3.20%) healthcare workers tested COVID-19-positive and distribution among the risk-based groups was significant (p=0.037). There was a significantly increased risk of incidence among repeated contacts, no mask use, and the source being a colleague (p<0.05). The detection of high-risk contacts was found to be important for controlling COVID-19 infection in a hospital setting.
Highlights
The first case of coronovirus diseases-2019 (COVID-19) in Turkey was detected onMarch 11, 2020, and the COVID-19 was declared a pandemic by the World HealthOrganisation on the same date[1]
The detection of high-risk contacts was found to be important for controlling COVID-19 infection in a hospital setting
The retrospective cohort study was conducted at the Ege University Hospital, Bornova, Turkey, and comprised all healthcare workers (HCWs) who had come into contact with COVID
Summary
The first case of coronovirus diseases-2019 (COVID-19) in Turkey was detected onMarch 11, 2020, and the COVID-19 was declared a pandemic by the World HealthOrganisation on the same date[1]. The first case of coronovirus diseases-2019 (COVID-19) in Turkey was detected on. HCWs have a critical role in controlling the pandemic, and, their inability to continue working would cause an interruption in healthcare services [3]. Another risk is the possibility of hospitals turning into sources of infection [4]. When management strategies for HCWs who have been in contact with a COVID-19 case and who have been infected are systematically implemented, it would be easier to control infectious disease outbreaks and to correctly use available resources[6]. A meta-analysis comprising 172 observational studies revealed that the use of a face mask and being at a physical distance of >1m from a case can cause a significant reduction in the risk of SARS-
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