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- Harvard researchers have discovered that a considerable number of asymptomatic grocery store workers tested positive for the coronavirus at a time when face mask warrants were not being enforced in one state.
- Scientists found that employees with direct contact with customers were five times more likely to test positive.
- Grocery store staff are essential workers who are regularly exposed to the risk of COVID-19 transmission, especially in areas like the United States that face significant epidemics.
Personal protective equipment is not enough to prevent healthcare workers from becoming infected with the novel coronavirus. Doctors, nurses, other hospital staff and frontline workers have been exposed to the virus for months at work, and this is in addition to the regular community transmission risks that everyone faces. CDC counts in August said more than 600 healthcare workers had already died from complications from COVID-19, though others counted hundreds more. But medical personnel are not the only type of essential workers who are more likely to be infected with the novel coronavirus.
A brand new study has identified an “alarming rate” of COVID-19 infection among the type of workers you are most likely to interact with on a regular basis. These are the employees of the grocery stores, who themselves are constantly at risk of community transmission of COVID-19 due to the nature of their work.
Harvard researchers found that 20% of 104 grocery workers at a Massachusetts store tested positive and most of them had no symptoms when tested. A large proportion of COVID-19 cases are asymptomatic, but transmission also occurs in the presymptomatic phase of patients who eventually present with symptoms. According to studies, these patients are contagious as early as two days before the onset of the first symptoms.
The rate of infection among grocery store workers was “significantly higher than in surrounding communities,” according to the newspaper. The study was first published in Occupational and environmental medicine. Employees directly exposed to customers were five times more likely to test positive, the researchers said.
“We did the study because, during the first months of COVID, the focus was on healthcare workers, but not other essential workers,” Dr Justing Yang said. Fox News. Yang is an assistant professor at the Boston University School of Medicine and a research fellow at the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health.
“I think there’s always a problem when you have close contact with someone else, such as interacting with a salesperson / cashier in a store,” Yang added. “Therefore, physical barriers (plexiglass) and wearing a mask would greatly reduce this risk of contracting SARS-CoV-2.”
While the percentage might seem scary, there is one detail that explains the unexpected results. The study took place in May and Yang noted that Massachusetts implemented a mask warrant after the study was published. The CDC didn’t start advising the use of masks until early April. The more face masks people wear indoors such as grocery stores, the lower the risk of transmission and the better the protection for customers and workers.
“I think for stores and states with a mask warrant, we probably wouldn’t see those kinds of numbers,” Yang said. “But for stores and states without a mask warrant, this scenario could very well occur in other stores as well.”
The researchers said that similar studies in China indicated a 9.2% infection rate among supermarket workers.
In addition to the obvious risks of contracting COVID-19, researchers say grocery store workers also face additional mental health issues. Those who cannot practice social distancing at work have a higher risk of developing anxiety or depression. Additionally, those who got to work using public transit or shared rides were also more likely to be depressed than those who walked, biked, or used a private car.
“This is the first study to demonstrate the significant asymptomatic infection rate, risks of exposure, and associated psychological distress of essential retail grocery workers during the pandemic, which supports policy recommendations that employers and government officials should take steps to implement preventative strategies and administrative arrangements, such as methods to reduce interpersonal contact, repeat and routine employee testing for SARS-CoV-2, to ensure the essential worker health and safety, ”the researchers wrote. “Our important mental health discovery calls for action by providing comprehensive employee assistance services to help critical workers cope with psychological distress during the COVID-19 pandemic.”
The study has limitations and the conclusions may not apply to the current state of the pandemic. The risk of infection may be much lower in communities where more people wear face masks and higher in places where people do not wear masks or practice social distancing. The full study is available on this link.
Chris Smith started writing about gadgets as a hobby, and before he even knew it he was sharing his take on tech with readers around the world. Whenever he doesn’t write about gadgets, he miserably fails to walk away from them, although he desperately tries. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
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