International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health Article Epidemiology of and Risk Factors for COVID-19 Infection among Health Care Workers: A Multi-Centre Comparative Study Jia-Te Wei 1, Zhi-Dong Liu 1, Zheng-Wei Fan 2, Lin Zhao 1,* and Wu-Chun Cao 1,2,* 1 Institute of EcoHealth, School of Public Health, Cheeloo College of Medicine, Shandong University, Jinan 250012, Shandong, China;
[email protected] (J.-T.W.);
[email protected] (Z.-D.L.) 2 State Key Laboratory of Pathogen and Biosecurity, Beijing Institute of Microbiology and Epidemiology, Beijing 100071, China;
[email protected] * Correspondence:
[email protected] (L.Z.);
[email protected] (W.-C.C.) Received: 31 August 2020; Accepted: 28 September 2020; Published: 29 September 2020 Abstract: Healthcare workers (HCWs) worldwide are putting themselves at high risks of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) by treating a large number of patients while lacking protective equipment. We aim to provide a scientific basis for preventing and controlling the COVID-19 infection among HCWs. We used data on COVID-19 cases in the city of Wuhan to compare epidemiological characteristics between HCWs and non-HCWs and explored the risk factors for infection and deterioration among HCWs based on hospital settings. The attack rate (AR) of HCWs in the hospital can reach up to 11.9% in Wuhan. The time interval from symptom onset to diagnosis in HCWs and non-HCWs dropped rapidly over time. From mid-January, the median time interval of HCW cases was significantly shorter than in non-HCW cases.