Aussie health workers nearly three times more likely to contract COVID-19
The estimates by Kirby Institute are again raising questions over the adequacies of PPE
Health workers in Australia are nearly three times as likely to contract COVID-19 than the general population, data from the first wave of the pandemic suggests.
Researchers estimated at least 536 health workers were infected between the date of Australia’s first confirmed case — 25 January — and the start of Victoria’s second stage 3 lockdown — 8 July.
“Even without counting the more than 3500 health workers infected in the second wave [in Victoria], these numbers from early in the pandemic suggest some system failures to protect our first-line health responders,” said the lead researcher Professor Raina MacIntyre, head of global biosecurity at the UNSW’s Kirby Institute.
“The safety of health workers should be urgently addressed.”
