Impact of coronavirus disease 2019 on healthcare workers: beyond the risk of exposure
Dimitrios Giannis, Georgios Geropoulos, Evangelia Matenoglou, Dimitrios Moris
Abstract
In December 2019, a previously unknown coronavirus strain disease, the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-2019) or severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), emerged in Wuhan, China, and has rapidly spread worldwide.1 2 As of 5 April 2020, more than 1 000 000 people have been officially diagnosed and over 60 000 patients have died, while the pandemic is still spreading.3 Clinical manifestations range from asymptomatic or very mild to severe illness, sepsis and death. While information so far suggests that most COVID-19 illness is mild, severe illness occurs in up to 16% of cases.4 5 The clinical presentation is occasionally atypical, but patients usually present with fever (>80%), cough (>60%) and myalgia or fatigue (>40%).1 4 COVID-19 has been associated with high risk of acute respiratory distress syndrome and intensive care unit (ICU) admission.1 2 6 Currently, it is hard to predict the long-term impact of the pandemic on healthcare facilities and personnel. Healthcare workers, being in the frontline of an ongoing war against the pandemic, should be perceived as a discrete population in terms of both physical and mental health impact. During a crisis, similar to the COVID-19 pandemic, shortages of drug and life-saving equipment may occur.7 8 COVID-19 has overwhelmed the capacity of healthcare resources and has significantly changed the workplace rules of healthcare workers.9 10 It has been recognised that healthcare workers should take appropriate precautions to avoid contracting the disease and prevent spread within the hospital. However, during the early stages of the pandemic, the lack of knowledge resulted in high rates of transmission of COVID-19 to healthcare workers, due to inadequate protection.11 12 Currently, the unprecedented overwhelming demand of protective equipment, which includes masks, medical gowns, gloves and eye–face protective devices, poses a significant health risk. Contracting the infection results …