Employee Contact Tracing for a South Florida Hospital System During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Background To contain and reduce the spread of COVID-19, contact tracing of cases is used to identify additional cases, quarantine close contacts, and improve surveillance data. In healthcare settings, nurses, clinical support staff and non-clinical staff are vulnerable to COVID-19 transmission while interacting with patients and other staff. We describe the makeup and risk factors gathered from a contact tracing program in a hospital system in Miami, Florida. Methods The contact tracing effort covered a system of four hospitals: two major teaching hospitals and two community hospitals. Associated satellite facilities were also included. Sample consisted of employees tested for COVID-19 regardless of employee category or testing location between July and September 2020. Only employees who tested positive and were successfully interviewed by the Infection Prevention and Control department staff were included in this analysis. Risk factors included employee role, direct extended contact with patients and other employees, PPE usage, meal break behavior and location, and manner of commuting. Results 220 employees tested positive and were interviewed. 84 (38.2%) were nursing staff, 68 (30.9%) were non-nurse clinical staff and 68 (30.9%) non-clinical staff. 159 (72.3%) had extended contact with patients and 205 (93.2%) had contact with other staff. 1 (0.5%) employee reported not wearing PPE in the presence of other employees. 85 (38.6%) and 98 (44.5%) employees reported working in a shared office or floor unit with no set office respectively. 101 (45.9%) employees reported eating lunch in their employee lounge or break room. Conclusions Results suggest an association between infections among staff and risk factors such as work environment type, close person-to-person contact and break location. Hospitals should continue to enforce PPE use and limit the number of employees in small break rooms.