COVID-19: Risk assessment and mitigation measures in healthcare and non-healthcare workplaces

Abstract

The coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), is the third emerging human coronavirus, leading to fatal respiratory distress and pneumonia. The disease originated in December 2019 in Wuhan City, Hubei province, China. As of 23 November 2021, over 258 million cases and 5.1 million deaths have been reported in more than 222 countries and territories worldwide. The COVID-19 is under biological hazards group 4 of high risk of spreading to the community with the potential to overwhelm the health system, especially in resource limited countries. Transmission of COVID-19 within healthcare and non-healthcare facilities has been recorded. Therefore, several authorities such as the World Health Organization (WHO), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and other global partners issued guidance to mitigate the COVID-19 pandemic in these facilities. A global emergency due to the COVID-19 pandemic requires various studies of mitigation measures and risk assessment. The Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA) was used as a tool for risk assessment in healthcare and clinical fields that assigns a numerical value to each risk associated with failure. Therefore, in this review, the FMEA procedure was used to evaluate the COVID-19 risks and risk groups in health care and non-healthcare workplaces. Proposed mitigation measures and risk ranking tools were also summarized. The COVID-19 transmission risk should be theoretically and practically reduced by applying the best hygienic practices. However, providing safe work practices must be improved for infection control measures in healthcare and non-healthcare workplaces. Additionally, it is recommended to reassess the risk of COVID-19 infection from time to time, especially after vaccines availability.

Poultry Production and Sustainability in Developing Countries under the COVID-19 Crisis: Lessons Learned

“…Other measures are also recommended to implement the One Health concept ( Table 3 ). Collectively, the following measures are described by several authors [ 16 , 59 , 60 ]: Application of biosecurity in animal farms and implementation of suitable hygienic measures Assessment of the economic impacts of COVID-19 on animal production sectors. Assessment of the social effects of COVID-19 on individuals and development of more effective anti-SARS-CoV-2 medications and vaccines and diagnostics.…”

Diversity of Coronaviruses with Particular Attention to the Interspecies Transmission of SARS-CoV-2

“…To implement the One Health concept, all relevant stakeholders, including physicians and public health experts, veterinarians, epidemiologists, diagnosticians, pharmaceutical companies, vaccinologists, governments, and economists, must be engaged to identify clinical cases, perform laboratory diagnosis, trace the virus epidemiology, control the disease, enhance the isolation, quarantine, cure, vaccinate humans, and initially raise public awareness. In this regard, the following measures are described by several authors [172][173][174]: (i) developing strategies and funding needed for the application of preventative and control measures in the frame of One Health, (ii) engagement of welltrained and professional staff, (iii) fast and precise diagnostic tools and treatment of affected individuals, (iv) development and provision of efficient and safe vaccines for humans, (v) biosurveillance of live animal markets and humans in contact with animals to identity the possible reservoirs and to assess the risk factors, (vi) application of biosecurity in animal farms and implementation of good hygienic measures, (vii) assessment of the economic and social impacts of COVID-19 on people, and (viii) provision of efficient drugs and vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 and diagnostics. To control the spread of zoonotic diseases, vaccinating animals is more cost-effective, as well as (ix) cooperation among different agencies and taking advantage of veterinarians and human medicine experiences in the virus isolation programs and in the disinfection and collection of premises and clinics under the supervision of health authorities in order to prevent and/or reduce human outbreaks, (x) raising public awareness of SARS-CoV-2 transmission, and (xi) providing safe work practices in healthcare and nonhealthcare workplaces, and it is recommended to reassess the risk of COVID-19 infection from time to time.…”

Fuzzy adaptive resonance theory failure mode effect analysis non-healthcare setting for infectious disease: review

“…Despite the numerous FMEA implementations in many application fields and various research on the risks of infectious disease in healthcare settings, a systematic method for regular risk management of infectious disease has not yet been developed. Besides, the transmission of infectious disease cannot be (fully) interrupted by using basic precautions of healthcare alone [15]. Therefore, transmission-based precautions can be adopted.…”