Daily use of public transportation and incidence of symptomatic COVID-19 among healthcare workers during the peak of a pandemic wave in Zurich, Switzerland

Ludwig Steinwender; Dominique Holy; Jan Burkhard; Ilker Uçkay

doi:10.1016/j.ajic.2021.10.022

Daily use of public transportation and incidence of symptomatic COVID-19 among healthcare workers during the peak of a pandemic wave in Zurich, Switzerland

Am J Infect Control. 2022 Mar;50(3):352-354. doi: 10.1016/j.ajic.2021.10.022. Epub 2021 Oct 28.

Authors

Ludwig Steinwender¹, Dominique Holy², Jan Burkhard², Ilker Uçkay³

Affiliations

¹ Infection Control, Balgrist University Hospital, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
² Occupational Medicine, Balgrist University Hospital, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
³ Infection Control, Balgrist University Hospital, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland. Electronic address: [email protected].

Abstract

Use of public transportation could be associated with an increased risk for developing COVID-19. We investigated 376 COVID-19-compatible episodes among our healthcare workers (HCWs), of whom 225 (60%) reported that they used public transportation. In multivariate analyses, HCWs using public transportation had no greater incidence of COVID-19 than those continuously using a private transportation.

Keywords: Bus; Hospital employees; Risk for COVID-19; Train; Tramway.

MeSH terms

COVID-19* / epidemiology
Health Personnel
Humans
Incidence
Pandemics*
SARS-CoV-2
Switzerland / epidemiology