Coronavirus: About 20% of Boston grocery store workers had COVID-19 and most were asymptomatic, study finds

Working in a Boston grocery store puts employees at serious risk of infection, especially those who must interact with customers, according to a new study.

These workers likely became a “significant source of transmission” of COVID-19 without even knowing it, as most of the study participants were asymptomatic.

The analysis, published Thursday in the journal Occupational and Environmental Medicine, is the first to demonstrate the significant rate of asymptomatic infection, risks of exposure and psychological distress that grocery store workers have experienced during the pandemic.

In the study, 20% of 104 grocery workers tested at a Boston store in May had positive nasal swab tests.

This was a significantly higher infection rate than what was seen in surrounding communities, the researchers said. Workers who dealt with customers were five times more likely to test positive for COVID-19 than their colleagues in other jobs.

Broken COVID-19 Myths: Masks, Indoor Transmission, Cold Weather, etc.

But three in four of those who tested positive had no symptoms.

“We were really surprised to see that there were so many asymptomatic people,” said Dr. Justin Yang, assistant professor at Boston University School of Medicine and a researcher at Harvard School of Public Health who worked on the study. “This is really very alarming because it means that employees in retail grocery stores are exposed to customers and are acting as a kind of intermediary for the virus – almost like a super spreader.”

Study workers tried to take precautions. Almost all, 91%, said they wear a face mask at work and 77% said they also wear masks outside of work. Still, only around 66% said they were able to practice social distancing consistently at work.

This inability to social distance had an emotional and physical impact. Almost a quarter of people in customer service jobs reported struggling with anxiety and depression, compared to 8% of workers who did not have to interact with customers. Employees who commuted to work by bicycle, car or on foot were less likely to experience depression than those who used public transportation, according to the study.

“If you’re in an environment where you’re literally in front of a customer, you can’t stand taller than six feet and it’s really stressful for essential employees,” Yang said.

At least 108 grocery store workers have died and more than 16,300 have been infected or exposed to Covid-19, the International Union of United Food and Commercial Workers, or UFCW, said on Thursday. The union represents 1.3 million employees.

Infection rates among workers in this study appear to be high, Yang said. In comparison, an earlier study of Covid-19 infections among Dutch health workers found the infection rate to be around 10%.

Yang said he hopes this study will inspire the government and store owners to provide better counseling, routine testing and protection for grocery store workers.

There was a national movement to designate grocery store workers as first responders, which would give them priority access to testing and personal protective equipment.

In an editorial for CNN in August, Marc Perrone, UFCW chairman and Democratic vice presidential candidate Kamala Harris argued that workers at the grocery store should also receive a risk premium.

Non-union grocery store workers often have little or no health care coverage, meaning they could potentially face high health care bills if they contract COVID-19.

Some states have increased support for grocery store workers by increasing access to child care services and requiring shoppers to wear masks. According to the UFCW, three states offer free testing for these workers and four offer workers compensation, but none of the states grant full first responder status to grocery store workers, and the rules are inconsistent. state to state.

“We spend a lot of time talking about healthcare workers, and they are important, but we’re missing a lot of pieces of the puzzle if we don’t look at the exposure of non-healthcare workers,” Yang said. “Their voices are really not being heard. I thought it was important to publish this so that government agencies and store owners can take note and see that they should better protect their employees.”