COVID-19 Sero-Prevalence and Risk Factors in a Sample of Community Health Center Employees in New York State

Abstract

Objective: To document COVID-19 sero-prevalence, prior testing, symptom experiences, and risk factors in a sample of community health center (CHC) workers. Methods: Descriptive statistics and log-binomial regression were used to analyze an electronic employee survey linked with COVID-19 antibody results. The sample included 378 employees who completed the survey; 325 had complete lab data. Results: The sero-positivity rate was 15.4%. One third of sero-positive participants had no previous COVID-19 symptoms or were unsure. Working on-site only and/or with direct patient contact was not associated with sero-positivity. Employees in their 20s were more likely to test positive than employees ages 50+, controlling for sex, race, and region (PR = 2.96; P < 0.05). Conclusions: With CHCs central to COVID-19 response and vaccination efforts, public health messaging should remind CHC workers, especially younger employees, of their risks of community-based exposure.

Masking strategy to protect healthcare workers from COVID-19: An umbrella meta-analysis

“…Given the lower morbidity and higher risk of omicron transmission in the community mandating universal use of N95, even where they have not historically been indicated, may not necessarily result in reduced infection rate in HCWs, given that community exposure remains the major risk factor for contracting COVID-19 [ [31] , [32] , [33] , [34] , [35] ] and a broader approach to HCW protection is needed.…”