Effective control of SARS-CoV-2 transmission between healthcare workers during a period of diminished community prevalence of COVID-19
Nick K Jones, Lucy Rivett, Dominic Sparkes, Sally Forrest, Sushmita Sridhar, Jamie Young, Joana Pereira-Dias, Claire Cormie, Harmeet K. Gill, Nicola Reynolds, Michelle Wantoch, Matthew Routledge, Ben Warne, Jack Levy, William David Córdova Jiménez, Fathima Nisha Begum Samad, Chris McNicholas, Mark Ferris, Jane Gray, Michael B. Gill, Stephen Baker, John R. Bradley, Gordon Dougan, Ian Goodfellow, Ravi Gupta, Paul J Lehner, Paul Lyons, Nicholas J. Matheson, Kenneth G. C. Smith, M. Estée Török, Mark Toshner, Michael P. Weekes, Nicholas K Jones, Lucy Rivett, Matthew Routledge, Dominic Sparkes, Ben Warne, Claire Cormie, Sally Forrest, Harmeet K. Gill, Iain Kean, Joana Pereira-Dias, Nicola Reynolds, Sushmita Sridhar, Michelle Wantoch, Jamie Young, Sarah Caddy, Laura Caller, Theresa Feltwell, Grant Hall, William L. Hamilton, Myra Hosmillo, Charlotte J. Houldcroft, Aminu S. Jahun, Fahad Khokhar, Luke W. Meredith, Anna Yakovleva, Helen Butcher, Daniela Caputo, Debra Clapham-Riley, Helen Dolling, Anita Furlong, Barbara Graves, Emma Le Gresley, Nathalie Kingston, Sofia Papadia, Hannah Stark, Kathleen Stirrups, Jennifer Webster, Joanna Calder, Julie R. Harris, Sarah H. Hewitt, Jane Kennet, Anne Meadows, Rebecca Rastall, Criona O Brien, Jo Price, Cherry Publico, Jane Rowlands, Valentina Ruffolo, Hugo Tordesillas, Michael B. Gill, Jane Gray, Greg Hannon, Karen Brookes, Laura Canna, Isabel Cf da Cruz, Katie Dempsey, Anne Elmer, Naidine Escoffery, Stewart Fuller, Heather Jones, Carla M. S. Ribeiro, Caroline Saunders, Angela Wright, Rutendo Nyagumbo, Anne M. Roberts, Ashlea Bucke, Simone Hargreaves, Danielle Johnson
Abstract
Previously, we showed that 3% (31/1032)of asymptomatic healthcare workers (HCWs) from a large teaching hospital in Cambridge, UK, tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 in April 2020. About 15% (26/169) HCWs with symptoms of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) also tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 (Rivett et al., 2020). Here, we show that the proportion of both asymptomatic and symptomatic HCWs testing positive for SARS-CoV-2 rapidly declined to near-zero between 25th April and 24th May 2020, corresponding to a decline in patient admissions with COVID-19 during the ongoing UK 'lockdown'. These data demonstrate how infection prevention and control measures including staff testing may help prevent hospitals from becoming independent 'hubs' of SARS-CoV-2 transmission, and illustrate how, with appropriate precautions, organizations in other sectors may be able to resume on-site work safely.