Abstract
COVID-19 is a pandemic disease. Healthcare workers (HCWs) have a high risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection. However, the information of HCWs with COVID-19 in Thailand is still limited. The objective of the study was to evaluate rate and risk factors of COVID-19 among HCWs in Thailand. Methods: The prospective cohort study was conducted at the tertiary care hospitals in Thailand from May 2020 to May 2021. The study participants were HCWs in Thailand who presented with fever and/or acute respiratory tract symptoms. All of them were tested with RT-PCR for SARS-CoV-2 and their clinical data were collected. Results: There were 1,432 HCWs in this study. Among them, 167 patients were front-line HCWs and 1,265 patients were non-front-line HCWs. Of 60 HCWs with COVID-19, 2 patients were the front-line HCWs, and 58 patients were the non-front-line HCWs. Rate of COVID-19 in all HCWs was 4.2% (60/1,432). Rate of COVID-19 in the front-line HCWs was 1.7% (2/167), whereas rate of COVID-19 in non-front-line HCWs was 4.6% (58/1,265) (p=0.04). In addition, non-front-line HCWs, non-medical staffs, history of contact confirmed COVID-19 case at home/family, unvaccinated status, fair compliance to personal protective equipment (PPE) standard, and initial presentation with pneumonia were significantly more common in HCWs with COVID-19 than those without COVID-19. Front-line HCWs, history of contact confirmed COVID-19 case at the clinical care areas, vaccinated status, good compliance to PPE standard, and initial presentation with upper respiratory infection were significantly more common in HCWs without COVID-19 than those with COVID-19. Conclusions: COVID-19 was more frequently found in the non-front-line HCWs than the front-line HCWs. Thai guidelines of infection prevention and control are effective in preventing SARS-CoV-2 transmission. Therefore, these interventions should be encouraged.
