In the front line against the epidemic of coronavirus, the medical staff has paid a heavy human toll. A new study reveals that, in April, caregivers were almost 3.5 times more likely to get the Covid-19 the rest of the population. The study, published in the Lancet, analysed the data entered by the user in a special application “Covid” on a smartphone, between 24 march and 23 April in the United Kingdom and the United States, and then compared the risk of getting the illness between the caregivers in direct contact with patients and the rest of the users. The number of confirmed cases of Covid-19 was precisely 2 747 per 100 000 caregivers, users of the app, compared to 242 per 100 000 users in the general population.
taking Into account differences in access to tests between the caregivers and the rest of the population, the authors believe that caregivers are 3.4 times more likely to be tested positive Covid-19 “. The risk is five times higher for caregivers stating, ” from ethnic minorities, blacks or asians “, even taking into account the medical history, state the authors. “Our results confirm the structural inequalities facing the Covid. Caregivers from ethnic minorities were more likely to work in clinical environments more risky, with patients Covid suspected or confirmed, and had less access to appropriate protective equipment, ” says Dr. Erica Warner, of the Harvard medical school/Massachusetts general Hospital.
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The importance of the protections
not surprisingly, unequal access to masks, gloves, surblouses and other protections, is also an important risk factor. The caregivers who used the equipment “inadequate” were 1.3 times more at risk than those who have access to the equipment to be satisfactory, also indicate the authors, noting that the study covers a period of shortage of protection equipment. The study also shows that one in three caregivers from minority did not have access to adequate equipment (or had to reuse it), compared to one in four among the other caregivers.
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About 2.6 million users in the United Kingdom and 182 408 in the United States were included in the study at the outset. By eliminating the people who used the app less than 24 hours and those that were from the outset, tested positive, and 2.1 million people have participated, of which 99 795 identifying themselves as caregivers in direct contact with patients.
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