UK
Shift workers treated in hospital three times more likely to have Covid – study
Shift workers treated in hospital are up to three times more likely to test positive for coronavirus than other hospitalised patients, a study has found.
Shift work was defined in the study as working outside the hours of 9am to 5pm, and it is estimated that around 25% of the UK’s workforce engages in some form of such work.
Using data from UK Biobank, the world’s largest biomedical database, researchers from the University of Manchester, Oxford, and the West Indies found that even after taking account of known coronavirus risk factors, such as age, ethnicity and deprivation, shift work increased the likelihood of testing positive for coronavirus in patients treated in hospital. The nature of the shift work or the occupation of those undertaking the shift work did not seem to affect the association.
© Photograph: Anthony Harvey/Rex/Shutterstock Patients arrive at the emergency department at the Royal London hospital in Whitechapel.
Over half a million people were enrolled in the UK Biobank, and of these, 6,442 were tested for Covid-19 in hospital, resulting in 498 positive tests between March and August 2020. The shift workers were 2.5 to 3 times more likely to test positive with coronavirus than non-shift workers.
Dr John Blaikley, one of the lead researchers, said that although the study “shows quite a strong association between shift working and being hospitalised for Covid-19, even after controlling for existing Covid-19 risk factors”, further studies looking into the issue, especially in ethnic minority communities, were needed because the UK Biobank did not fully reflect the diversity of the UK.
He added that although it was difficult to explain the exact cause of this association, it could be speculated that possible causes might include reduced social distancing at work and how shift work may impact on the body clock of workers, with the body clock controlling immune response according to time of day.
Dr Hannah Durrington, the other lead researcher, said it was of “paramount importance” that the health and working conditions for shift workers were improved. “We do believe it should be possible to substantially mitigate these risks through good hand-washing, use of face protection, appropriate spacing and vaccination,” she added.
The study is further testament to the disparities that exist in relation to coronavirus and different kinds of work. Earlier this month, research from the Trades Union Congress found that workers on zero-hours contracts and other insecure jobs were twice as likely to have died of Covid-19 compared with those in other professions.
© Photograph: Paul Ellis/AP The GMB union said Boris Johnson’s reported comments that he would rather see ‘bodies piled high’ than approve a third lockdown ‘shows why a public inquiry is needed now’.The Trades Union Congress is calling for an immediate public inquiry into the handling of the Covid pandemic, insisting it should examine whether workers were kept safe enough after about 15,000 people of working age died from Covid in England and WalThe GMB union said the prime minister’s reported comments that he would rather see “bodies piled high” than approve a third lockdown “shows why a public inquiry is needed now”. It said its members “deserve to know why they were put in harm’s way unnecessarily and if the PM think it’s OK for them to die”.The unions want Downing Street to announce a start date and consult the public about its scope. Men working in processing plants, security, care and restaurant work were most at risk of dying from Covid, according to figures up to the end of last year, while for women it was machine operators and care workers.No 10 told bereaved families earlier this month the government did not have time for an inquiry and would not for months to come. It has said there will be “an independent inquiry at the appropriate time”.Calls for an immediate inquiry are gathering momentum. The TUC’s affiliated unions represent 5.5 million workers and its intervention follows similar demands for an inquiry from the archbishop of Canterbury, Labour, government scientific advisers and thousands of the bereaved, who have voiced outrage at Johnson’s alleged comments.They include Lobby Akinnola, whose father Olufemi, 60, was a care worker in Leamington Spa who died a year ago. He was visiting different clients’ homes improvising PPE from a winter scarf and gloves.“If we had locked down a week earlier, how many people could have been saved?” said Akinnola, adding that he was “disgusted” by reports the prime minister said “let the bodies pile high”.“My dad was on the threshold of life and death, but fell on the wrong side. Throughout this pandemic we have relied on frontline workers, but the government didn’t seem to support them.”The TUC has set five priorities for an inquiry: workplace infection control, including financial support to self-isolate; the impact of a decade of spending cuts on the capacity of public services; Covid’s unequal impact on workers, particularly ethnic minorities and people in insecure jobs; the impact of employment support packages such as furlough; and government procurement and its effect on supplies of PPE.
Shift work was defined in the study as working outside the hours of 9am to 5pm, and it is estimated that around 25% of the UK’s workforce engages in some form of such work.
Using data from UK Biobank, the world’s largest biomedical database, researchers from the University of Manchester, Oxford, and the West Indies found that even after taking account of known coronavirus risk factors, such as age, ethnicity and deprivation, shift work increased the likelihood of testing positive for coronavirus in patients treated in hospital. The nature of the shift work or the occupation of those undertaking the shift work did not seem to affect the association.
© Photograph: Anthony Harvey/Rex/Shutterstock Patients arrive at the emergency department at the Royal London hospital in Whitechapel.Over half a million people were enrolled in the UK Biobank, and of these, 6,442 were tested for Covid-19 in hospital, resulting in 498 positive tests between March and August 2020. The shift workers were 2.5 to 3 times more likely to test positive with coronavirus than non-shift workers.
Dr John Blaikley, one of the lead researchers, said that although the study “shows quite a strong association between shift working and being hospitalised for Covid-19, even after controlling for existing Covid-19 risk factors”, further studies looking into the issue, especially in ethnic minority communities, were needed because the UK Biobank did not fully reflect the diversity of the UK.
He added that although it was difficult to explain the exact cause of this association, it could be speculated that possible causes might include reduced social distancing at work and how shift work may impact on the body clock of workers, with the body clock controlling immune response according to time of day.
Dr Hannah Durrington, the other lead researcher, said it was of “paramount importance” that the health and working conditions for shift workers were improved. “We do believe it should be possible to substantially mitigate these risks through good hand-washing, use of face protection, appropriate spacing and vaccination,” she added.
The study is further testament to the disparities that exist in relation to coronavirus and different kinds of work. Earlier this month, research from the Trades Union Congress found that workers on zero-hours contracts and other insecure jobs were twice as likely to have died of Covid-19 compared with those in other professions.
© Photograph: Paul Ellis/AP The GMB union said Boris Johnson’s reported comments that he would rather see ‘bodies piled high’ than approve a third lockdown ‘shows why a public inquiry is needed now’.The Trades Union Congress is calling for an immediate public inquiry into the handling of the Covid pandemic, insisting it should examine whether workers were kept safe enough after about 15,000 people of working age died from Covid in England and WalThe GMB union said the prime minister’s reported comments that he would rather see “bodies piled high” than approve a third lockdown “shows why a public inquiry is needed now”. It said its members “deserve to know why they were put in harm’s way unnecessarily and if the PM think it’s OK for them to die”.The unions want Downing Street to announce a start date and consult the public about its scope. Men working in processing plants, security, care and restaurant work were most at risk of dying from Covid, according to figures up to the end of last year, while for women it was machine operators and care workers.No 10 told bereaved families earlier this month the government did not have time for an inquiry and would not for months to come. It has said there will be “an independent inquiry at the appropriate time”.Calls for an immediate inquiry are gathering momentum. The TUC’s affiliated unions represent 5.5 million workers and its intervention follows similar demands for an inquiry from the archbishop of Canterbury, Labour, government scientific advisers and thousands of the bereaved, who have voiced outrage at Johnson’s alleged comments.They include Lobby Akinnola, whose father Olufemi, 60, was a care worker in Leamington Spa who died a year ago. He was visiting different clients’ homes improvising PPE from a winter scarf and gloves.“If we had locked down a week earlier, how many people could have been saved?” said Akinnola, adding that he was “disgusted” by reports the prime minister said “let the bodies pile high”.“My dad was on the threshold of life and death, but fell on the wrong side. Throughout this pandemic we have relied on frontline workers, but the government didn’t seem to support them.”The TUC has set five priorities for an inquiry: workplace infection control, including financial support to self-isolate; the impact of a decade of spending cuts on the capacity of public services; Covid’s unequal impact on workers, particularly ethnic minorities and people in insecure jobs; the impact of employment support packages such as furlough; and government procurement and its effect on supplies of PPE.
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