Interventions to reduce the risk of SARS‐CoV‐2 infection in non-healthcare workplaces
Citation: Pizarro AB, Persad E, Durao S, et al. Workplace interventions to reduce the risk of SARS‐CoV‐2 infection outside of healthcare settings. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. 2022;(5):CD015112.
Language: Abstract available in EN/ES/FA/FR/TH/ZH. Full text available in EN.
Free to view: Yes.
Funding sources: Region Skåne, Skåne University Hospital, Lund University, and Region Västra Götaland (Sweden).
What is this? In this Cochrane review, the authors searched for randomised and non-randomised studies of interventions to reduce the risk of SARS-CoV-2 in non-healthcare workplaces. They searched in September 2021 and included one randomised controlled trial from schools in England that compared routine isolation after exposure to COVID-19 with test-based attendance in 24,027 members of staff. The authors also identified two ongoing studies: one for interventions to eliminate exposure and the other for personal protective equipment.
What works: Nothing noted.
What doesn’t work: Nothing noted.
What is uncertain: In a non-healthcare workplace, it was uncertain whether or not a strategy of test‐based attendance reduced COVID‐19 infection rates compared with routine isolation after contact with a person infected by COVID‐19.
Implications: The authors of the review stated that more randomised and non-randomised studies of interventions to reduce SARS-CoV-2 infection rates in workplaces outside of the healthcare should be conducted, because the effects of most interventions used in these settings were unknown.
Other considerations: The authors of the review did not discuss their findings in the context of issues relating to health equity.
This summary was prepared by Ana Pizarro, checked by Sydney Johnson, and finalized by William Summerskill.
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