We tested HCWs at risk for infection, which we defined as contact with a patient or another HCW with (or later diagnosed with) SARS-CoV-2 infection. For workers with a positive test result, we collected laboratory results as of 22 May to calculate the time to test negative. We collected occupational and clinical characteristics of all the consecutive HCWs who underwent nasopharyngeal swabbing for the detection of SARS-CoV-2 at the Foundation IRCCS Ca’ Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico from 24 February 2020 (the day after the first COVID-19 case occurred in a physician at our hospital) to 31 March 2020.
We also calculated the median time between the day of diagnosis (first positive test) and the day the test results became negative. We assessed the frequency of positive tests among symptomatic and asymptomatic HCWs, and we evaluated the association between occupations, symptoms (type and number) and presence of infection. To answer this question, we reviewed all the nasopharyngeal swab tests performed in HCWs exposed to confirmed cases of COVID-19 at the Foundation IRCCS Ca’ Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico located in Milan, the capital of Lombardy, a large Italian region affected by COVID-19. Unfortunately, it is still unclear which microbiologic investigations and procedures should be adopted in HCWs in COVID-19 settings, especially with regard to those exposed to confirmed cases of COVID-19 and at risk for infection. It is therefore crucial to avoid infected HCWs, who will spread the disease. Indeed, they work in an emergency situation and are continuously at risk of being infected while also being in contact with the most fragile members of our society: those who need health assistance. Healthcare workers (HCWs) are crucial actors in the pandemic. The virus has since spread worldwide from China, causing the first pandemic of the 21st century, disrupting healthcare services in the affected countries and exacting a terrible toll of human lives. Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a previously unknown virus that recently jumped from an as yet unidentified animal host to humans and is responsible for causing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
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