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TimesLIVE reports that a new study has found that healthcare workers (HCWs) were less likely to die after being hospitalised with Covid-19 than non-healthcare workers.
Mortality had been proportionally higher among frontline workers in the early days of the pandemic. The study — led by researchers from the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) and others — also showed that in-hospital mortality among healthcare workers was associated with age, race, comorbidities and health sector, as well as when the infection occurred. “We found that the risk of in-hospital Covid-19 mortality among hospitalised healthcare workers was lower when compared to non-HCWs,” the authors indicated, adding that hospitalisation among healthcare workers decreased during the second wave as a result of better resources in health facilities and improved preparedness to manage the disease. “In addition, acquired immunity from infections in the first wave could have led to a decline in HCW Covid-19 cases in the second wave,” the report indicated. The study, which drew on the Datcov national hospital surveillance system, covered Covid-19 patients aged 20 to 65 who were admitted to both public and private health facilities between 5 March 2020 and 30 April this year, with a further distinction made between healthcare workers and non-healthcare workers. SA has an estimated 1.25 million healthcare workers spread across the public and private sectors. Some 169,678 confirmed infections were recorded in the age group during the study period, of which 6,364 were healthcare workers. The total number of deaths was 30,191, of whom 603 were healthcare workers.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Paul Ash at TimesLIVE
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