WASHINGTON, DC (May 4, 2020)—The George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health (Milken Institute SPH) today launched a survey of health care workers on the frontlines of the U.S. COVID-19 pandemic. The survey will gather information about COVID-19 exposures and infections in this group of critical U.S. workers. The project hopes to pinpoint the policies and practices that can lead to exposure and infection, as well as to identify best practices that will help protect the nation’s healthcare workers.
“U.S. health care workers are risking their lives every day caring for patients with COVID-19,” said David Michaels, PhD, MPH, a professor of environmental and occupational health at Milken Institute SPH and lead investigator on the project. “With this survey, we hope to shine a spotlight on how these workers are exposed and identify ways to improve workplace infection control and keep these essential workers safe.”
“This is an urgent problem,” added Michaels, who served as the U.S. Assistant Secretary of Labor for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) from 2009 through January 2017. “More than 25,000 health care workers have already been infected with the virus.”
The web-based survey asks a series of questions to workers in hospitals, nursing homes, clinics and other health care settings who have been exposed or infected with the virus. Relatives may also complete the survey for healthcare workers who have died.
The data collected through the survey will be posted on the web and made available to researchers and the public. People who fill out the survey will not be asked to identify themselves.
The project was supported by the McElhattan Foundation and Milken Institute SPH.
For more information about the project or to fill out the survey, click here.