Nursing

CDC: More than 9,000 healthcare workers contract COVID-19

Nurse Leader Insider, April 22, 2020

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According to preliminary data released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), nearly 9,300 healthcare workers in the United States have contracted COVID-19, and approximately 55% believe they were exposed at work.

Of these cases, 90% did not require hospitalization, and approximately 8% were asymptomatic when they tested positive. Nearly a third had some underlying health condition.

Twenty-seven of the 9,300 cases have died, and more than a third of deaths occurred in workers who were over 65 years old.

"The increased prevalence of severe outcomes in older [health care providers] should be considered when mobilizing retired [health care providers] to increase surge capacity," the authors of the report stated.

Furthermore, the CDC indicated that this data is likely an underestimate, as 84% of people in the overall dataset did not indicate whether they were a healthcare worker.

The authors also highlighted the continued need for practitioners to wear proper personal protective equipment when treating patients, including gowns, N95 respirators when available, eye protection, and gloves.

Source: NPR



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