Occupational COVID-19: what can be learned from notifications of occupational diseases?

Marinaccio and colleagues are applauded for providing valuable data on the risk of acquiring COVID-19 due to exposure in the workplace in Italy.1 Once again, this emphasises the importance of an assessment of the working circumstances and registration of occupational diseases. Data on work-related COVID-19 in the study of Marinaccio and colleagues was based on compensation claims of workers. In the Netherlands, an expert-based one-page guidance document for assessment and reporting of COVID-19 as occupational disease was developed by occupational physicians and data specialists. This guidance document, based on the general 6-step approach,2 was published on the website of the Netherlands Center for Occupational Diseases3 and communicated by newsletters. Occupational COVID-19 reports, International Classification of Diseases-10 code U.071, contain …