ABSTRACT
With the first 2020 surge of the COVID-19 pandemic, many health care workers (HCW) were re-deployed to critical care environments to support intensive care teams to look after high numbers of patients with severe COVID-19. There was considerable anxiety of increased risk of COVID19 for staff working in these environments. Using a multiplex platform to assess serum IgG responses to SARS-CoV-2 N, S and RBD proteins, and detailed symptom reporting, we screened over 500 HCW (25% of the total workforce) in a quaternary level hospital to explore the relationship between workplace and evidence of exposure to SARS-CoV-2. Whilst 45% of the cohort reported symptoms that they consider may have represented COVID-19, overall seroprevalence was 14% with anosmia and fever being the most discriminating symptoms for seropositive status. There was a significant difference in seropositive status between staff working in clinical and non-clinical roles (9% patient facing critical care, 15% patient facing non-critical care, 22% nonpatient facing). In the seropositive cohort, symptom severity increased with age for men and not for women. In contrast, there was no relationship between symptom severity and age or sex in the seronegative cohort reporting possible COVID-19 symptoms. Of the 12 staff screened PCR positive (10 symptomatic), 3 showed no evidence of seroconversion in convalescence. Conclusion: The current approach to Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) appears highly effective in protecting staff from patient acquired infection in the critical care environment including protecting staff managing interhospital transfers of COVID-19 patients. The relationship between seroconversion and disease severity in different demographics warrants further investigation. Longitudinally paired virological and serological surveillance, with symptom reporting are urgently required to better understand the role of antibody in the outcome of HCW exposure during subsequent waves of COVID-19 in health care environments.