Most US Healthcare Workers With Virus Likely Got It at Work: CDC

More than half of U.S. healthcare personnel infected with the new coronavirus likely contracted it via contact with an infected patient or coworker, new data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) suggest.

The findings underscore the need to better protect those on the front lines of the pandemic from becoming infected as hospitals face a crush of patients with the highly contagious COVID-19 respiratory illness caused by the virus.

Healthcare workers should be screened for fever and respiratory symptoms at the beginning of their shifts, researchers said in the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. They should also be given priority in coronavirus testing, provided with proper personal protective equipment and trained in their use, and discouraged from working while ill, it said.

Between Feb. 12 and April 9, 315,531 U.S. cases of COVID-19 were reported to the CDC, including 49,370 (16%) that included data on whether patients worked in healthcare.

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