Clinical characteristics, outcomes, area of work, and return to work of healthcare workers with COVID-19 infection: An experience of a tertiary care renal hospital in Pakistan

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic caused significant loss to healthcare systems across the world. Patients usually presented with fever and cough as the primary symptoms. This paper aims to discuss the clinical features, outcomes, areas of work, and duration of absence from work in employees working at a tertiary care renal hospital in Pakistan. Material and Methods: Data of employees who were suspected of having COVID-19 was compiled and divided into waves according to the COVID-19 waves in Pakistan. The clinical characteristics and duration till return to work was calculated and compared among waves using Chi-square test. Results: Five waves of COVID-19 were observed during the study. A total of 620 employees were tested during the waves, of which 216 (35%) tested positive. Of those who tested positive, most were healthcare workers (n=165 [76%], p-value <0.01). The most common symptom among positive cases was fever and least common was a combination of fever cough (p-value <0.01). The duration of absence from work dropped from a maximum of 43 days in the first wave to five days in the fifth wave. A total of 4763 employee days were lost during the pandemic. Conclusion: Strict implication of safety protocols in the workplace followed by astute management strategies must be maintained. Now that the pandemic is nearly over, strategies to mitigate outbreaks in the hospital should be limited to screening employees with fever and cough to preserve resources and reduce employees’ absence from work. Keywords: COVID-19, Healthcare workers, Absence of employees, Fever and cough, Duration of absence