Epidemiology of and Risk Factors for COVID-19 Infection among Health Care Workers: A Multi-Centre Comparative Study

Healthcare workers (HCWs) worldwide are putting themselves at high risks of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) by treating a large number of patients while lacking protective equipment We aim to provide a scientific basis for preventing and controlling the COVID-19 infection among HCWs We used data on COVID-19 cases in the city of Wuhan to compare epidemiological characteristics between HCWs and non-HCWs and explored the risk factors for infection and deterioration among HCWs based on hospital settings The attack rate (AR) of HCWs in the hospital can reach up to 11 9% in Wuhan The time interval from symptom onset to diagnosis in HCWs and non-HCWs dropped rapidly over time From mid-January, the median time interval of HCW cases was significantly shorter than in non-HCW cases Cases of HCWs and non-HCWs both clustered in northwestern urban districts rather than in rural districts HCWs working in county-level hospitals in high-risk areas were more vulnerable to COVID-19 HCW cases working in general, ophthalmology, and respiratory departments were prone to deteriorate compared with cases working in the infection department The AR of COVID-19 in HCWs are higher than in non-HCWs Multiple factors in hospital settings may play important roles in the transmission of COVID-19 Effective measures should be enhanced to prevent HCWs from COVID-19 infection