504 - Transmission of SARS-CoV-2 to Household Members of COVID Positive Healthcare Workers

Background: Healthcare workers (HCW) are at increased risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Infection prevention and control methods to prevent HCWs from bringing the virus home are lacking. We aimed to describe the various isolation practices of COVID positive (+) physicians and advanced practice providers to mitigate transmission risk to family members (FM) and understand HCW stress during this pandemic.

Methods: Survey responses were collected from 5/19/2020 - 6/12/2020 using a convenience sampling of HCW. Solicitations were done through email, listservs, institutional websites, and Facebook groups without geographic restriction. We collected data on demographics, details about HCW illness, health of FM, preventive measures taken, and HCW stress.

Results: The survey has so far been completed by 51 COVID+ respondents with FM in the home (Table 1). Half (55%) work in outpatient, 31% inpatient, and 8% in ER setting. Most HCW (83%) were diagnosed by PCR test; others were presumptive positive due to symptoms and exposure (14%). 64% had mild disease and 33% had moderate disease. Most common preventive measures were immediate showering after reaching home (59%) and changing clothes prior to going home (35%); 22% took no precautions. About 55% of FM developed symptoms of COVID. There were no significant differences between preventive measures taken by HCW whose FM remained asymptomatic. However, we noted that HCW whose FM remained symptom-free were more likely to sleep in a separate room (17% vs. 7%), refrain from physical contact with FM (22% vs.14%) and intimate contact with partners (22% vs. 11%). Over 88% reported increased stress level, many identifying health concerns and safety (26%) and impact on FM (28%) as the greatest source of stress. There was no difference in reported stress level between HCW whose FM became infected and those who were not. HCW with symptom-free FM were more concerned about transmission to their partner (p = 0.02).Table 1
Table 2


Conclusion: This is the first survey of its kind which, although limited by total respondents, indicates that HCW are taking a variety of approaches to prevent transmission of SARS-CoV-2 to their FM. We did not find a significant impact of individual preventive measures on the risk of transmission. Regardless of the FM illness, most HCW have increased stress due to impact of COVID.