Abstract
Objective To describe COVID-19 infections amongst healthcare workers at the Royal Melbourne Hospital from 1st July to 31st August 2020
Design Prospective observational study
Setting A 550 bed tertiary referral hospital in metropolitan Melbourne
Participants All healthcare workers identified with COVID-19 infection in the period of interest
Results 262 healthcare worker infections were identified over 9 weeks. 68.3% of infected healthcare workers were nurses and the most affected locations were the geriatric and rehabilitation wards. Clusters of infection occurred in staff working in wards with patients known to have COVID-19 infection. Staff infections peaked when COVID-19 infected inpatient numbers were highest, and density of patients and certain patient behaviours were noted by staff to be linked to possible transmission events. Three small outbreaks on other wards occurred but all were recognised and brought under control. Availability of rapid turn-around staff testing, and regular review of local data and obtaining feedback from staff helped identify useful interventions which were iteratively implemented. Attention to staff wellbeing was critical to the response and a comprehensive support service was implemented.
Conclusion(s) A comprehensive multimodal approach to containment was instituted with iterative refinement based on frontline workers observations and ongoing analysis of local data in real time.
The known: Healthcare workers are a group recognized to be at risk of acquisition of infection in the workplace during the current COVID-19 pandemic
The new: This describes the experience of the largest Australian outbreak to date of COVID- 19 infection amongst healthcare workers in a hospital environment
The implications: This paper should assist healthcare services to prepare for surges in COVID-19 infection to help limit future transmissions to healthcare workers
Competing Interest Statement
The authors have declared no competing interest.
Funding Statement
Nil to declare
Author Declarations
I confirm all relevant ethical guidelines have been followed, and any necessary IRB and/or ethics committee approvals have been obtained.
Yes
The details of the IRB/oversight body that provided approval or exemption for the research described are given below:
RMH HREC QA approval 2020158
All necessary patient/participant consent has been obtained and the appropriate institutional forms have been archived.
Yes
I understand that all clinical trials and any other prospective interventional studies must be registered with an ICMJE-approved registry, such as ClinicalTrials.gov. I confirm that any such study reported in the manuscript has been registered and the trial registration ID is provided (note: if posting a prospective study registered retrospectively, please provide a statement in the trial ID field explaining why the study was not registered in advance).
Yes
I have followed all appropriate research reporting guidelines and uploaded the relevant EQUATOR Network research reporting checklist(s) and other pertinent material as supplementary files, if applicable.
Yes
Footnotes
Funding No external funding support to declare.
Clarifications
Data Availability
Data are the property of the health service