Was enough, and is enough, being done to protect the primary care workforce from COVID-19?

There is clear evidence that healthcare workers (HCWs) are at increased risk of contracting COVID-19. Compared to non-essential workers, HCWs have a seven-fold increase in risk of severe COVID-19 (testing positive in hospital or death).1 Frontline, or patient-facing, HCWs have a three-fold increase in risk of testing positive for COVID-19 compared to the general population.2 Compared to non-patient facing HCWs they have a three-fold risk, and their household members have a two-fold risk of hospital admission with COVID-19.3 COVID-19 risk is also specialty dependent: ‘front-door’ speciality HCWs (A&E, medical specialties including general, acute, and geriatric medicine, and infectious diseases) are at increased risk compared to intensive care HCWs,3 who in some studies had a lower risk than other HCWs.4 The only publicly available data on COVID-19-related deaths of doctors in the UK comes from tributes in the medical press, …