Incidence and Source of COVID-19 Infection Among Health Care Workers in a Tertiary Hospital in South India—A Prospective Cohort Study

BACKGROUND: Data for COVID-19 incidence and the source of infection among health care workers (HCWs) in Indian population are limited. The main objective of the study was to assess the incidence of COVID-19 infection and identify the source of infection among the HCWs in a tertiary teaching hospital. METHODS: A prospective cohort study was conducted among the 2134 HCWs recruited by purposive sampling from a tertiary teaching hospital from May to August 2020 (4-month period—123 days). Over the 4-month period, all the HCWs who had symptoms or those were close contacts of COVID positive patients were traced and tested using validated COVID diagnostic test (reverse transcription–polymerase chain reaction [RT–PCR] test). A semi-structured questionnaire was used to interview each positive HCW to identify the source of exposure of the infection. RESULTS: Incidence proportion was 9.3% among HCWs and was two times higher among males compared to females. Hazard ratio was found to be higher among males and HCWs working in the non-COVID areas. Test positivity rate was found to highest (around 57.8%) among those aged less than 30 years. The most common source of infection was infected HCW colleagues (40.9%) followed by exposure to patients in non-COVID areas (27.3%). Only 5.1% of total infection was found in HCWs who had worked in COVID zones. CONCLUSIONS: People working in non-COVID areas, those using shared workplace, dining halls, and staff hostels, must follow strict COVID protocols by using appropriate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and following social distancing measures.