Volume 27, Number 3—March 2021
Research
Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Seropositivity among Healthcare Personnel in Hospitals and Nursing Homes, Rhode Island, USA, July–August 2020
, Philip A. Chan, Nga Vuong, Samira Sami, Dawn Lewis, Philip E. Sheridan, Susan L. Lukacs, Lisa Mackey, Lisa A. Grohskopf, Anita Patel, and Lyle R. Petersen
Table 2
SARS-CoV-2 seropositivity among hospital and nursing home personnel, by occupation and work location, Rhode Island, USA, July–August 2020*
| Category |
Hospital |
Nursing home |
|||||
| No. |
Seropositive, no. |
Seropositive, % (95% CI) |
No. |
Seropositive, no. |
Seropositive, % (95% CI) |
||
| Occupation | |||||||
| Administrative/office staff/clerk | 903 | 19 | 2.1 (1.3–3.3) | 200 | 11 | 5.5 (2.8–9.6) | |
| Diagnostic Imaging | 369 | 11 | 3.0 (1.5–5.3) | 0 | NA | NA | |
| Dietician/dietary services | 135 | 3 | 2.2 (0.5–6.4) | 114 | 10 | 8.8 (4.3–1.6) | |
| Engineer/maintenance | 108 | 2 | 1.9 (0.2–6.5) | 26 | 6 | 23.1 (9.0–43.7) | |
| Environmental services/cleaning | 114 | 3 | 2.6 (0.6–7.5) | 69 | 9 | 13.0 (6.1–23.3) | |
| Laboratory technologist/technician | 281 | 4 | 1.4 (0.4–3.6) | 0 | NA | NA | |
| Nurse | 2,733 | 114 | 4.2 (3.5–5.0) | 413 | 63 | 15.3 (11.9–19.1) | |
| Nurse assistant | 392 | 23 | 5.9 (3.8–8.7) | 296 | 59 | 19.9 (15.5–24.9) | |
| Occupational/physical/speech therapist | 283 | 8 | 2.8 (1.2–5.5) | 163 | 16 | 9.8 (5.7–15.5) | |
| Other healthcare | 573 | 12 | 2.1 (1.1–3.6) | 65 | 4 | 6.2 (1.7–15.0) | |
| Pharmacist/pharmacist assistant | 256 | 7 | 2.7 (1.1–5.6) | 5 | 2 | 40.0 (5.3– 85.3) | |
| Physician | 1,001 | 22 | 2.2 (1.4–3.3) | 10 | 0 | 0.0 | |
| Physician assistant | 100 | 1 | 1.0 (0.0–5.5) | 0 | NA | NA | |
| Receptionist/medical assistant | 296 | 12 | 4.1 (2.1–7.0) | 15 | 1 | 6.7 (0.2–32.0) | |
| Social worker/case manager/counselor | 432 | 7 | 1.6 (0.1–3.3) | 46 | 10 | 21.7 (11.0–36.4) | |
| Supervisor/manager |
393 |
8 |
2.0 (0.9–4.0) |
72 |
5 |
6.9 (2.3–15.5) |
|
| Workplace† | |||||||
| Administrative office | 1,132 | 21 | 1.9 (1.2–2.8) | 218 | 12 | 5.5 (2.9–9.4) | |
| Ambulatory healthcare/dental office | 2,122 | 48 | 2.3 (1.7–3.0) | NA | NA | NA | |
| Hospital COVID-19 unit | 1,435 | 72 | 5.0 (4.0–6.3) | NA | NA | NA | |
| Hospital general inpatient unit | 3,752 | 138 | 3.7 (3.1–4.3) | NA | NA | NA | |
| Hospital intensive care unit | 1,250 | 37 | 3.0 (2.1–4.1) | NA | NA | NA | |
| Hospital surgical unit | 1,234 | 31 | 2.5 (1.7–3.6) | NA | NA | NA | |
| Hospital emergency department | 288 | 7 | 2.4 (1.0–4.9) | NA | NA | NA | |
| Other hospital location | 963 | 20 | 2.1 (1.3– 3.2) | NA | NA | NA | |
| Nursing home COVID-19 unit | NA | NA | NA | 565 | 136 | 24.1 (20.6–27.8) | |
| Nursing home non–COVID-19 unit | NA | NA | NA | 1,088 | 111 | 10.2 (8.5–12.2) | |
*Gray shading indicates nursing home occupation categories that had a sample size <30 and were combined into an other nursing home category, with a combined n = 56, percent seropositive 16.1% (7.6%–28.3%). COVID-19, coronavirus disease; NA, not applicable; SARS-CoV-2, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. †Work location categories are not mutually exclusive: 27.3% of participants reported working in >1 workplace. Hospital and nursing home participants also reported working in other workplaces not shown in the table: corrections facilities (n = 16), Rhode Island Department of Health (n = 4), emergency medical services (n = 15), fire department (n = 6), law enforcement (n = 1), Rhode Island emergency management (n = 8), Rhode Island alternative hospital setup site (n = 14), Rhode Island remote COVID-19 testing site (n = 21), Rhode Island state warehouse (n = 1), or Rhode Island traffic and perimeter control (n = 1). Some worked in facilities in the other agency category; that is, 84 hospital personnel also worked in nursing home COVID-19 and non–COVID-19 units, and 34 nursing home personnel also worked in hospital COVID-19 units and general inpatient units.