The situation of work-related COVID-19 infection and occupational health and safety measures in Thailand

Introduction: The pandemic of COVID-19 infection is the worst public health problem worldwide. Globally, most of cases are among working population. The aims of this study are to describe the situation of work-related disease in Thailand and currently implemented preventive and control measures. Method(s): The data from the Situation Awareness Team under the Department of Disease Control (DDC) were collected and analysed in September 2020. The Monitoring and Evaluation Team under DDC also conducted a rapid survey to identify any measures enterprises had implemented to protect their employees from the disease. The checklists were applied from the ILO guideline. The survey was conducted via an online questionnaire using Google Form and sent to enterprises and the network of safety officers during 13th-17th April 2020. Fisher's Exact test with p-value was used to compare the percentage of enterprises reported implementation of measures. Result(s): Until the end of September, total cumulative number of COVID-19 infection in Thailand were 3,519 cases (approximately 5.29 per 100,000 populations) and 2,445 cases (69.5%) were domestic infection. Among this group, 2,258 persons (92.4%) were working population, aged 18-60 years. 484 domestic cases (21.4%) were classified as work-related COVID-19 infection. The highest number of work-related infection (122 cases) were among workers who worked in entertainment sector. Regarding the calculation for proportions of number of work-related infection and total number of infected cases in each occupation, almost drivers got infection from their jobs. Other high risk occupations included masseurs (90.9%), flight attendants (87.5%), priests (all religions) (80.0%), and airport staff (78.6%). Regarding the rapid survey, 101 samples responded. Almost all enterprises reported having a policy and implementation of preventive and control measures. Implemented measures included health screening of their workers (97%), work arrangement, e.g., work from home (75.2%), area arrangement for work/social distancing (81.2%), ventilation improvement (59.4%), and provision of masks (100%). Conclusion(s): Most of domestic COVID-19 infection were among working age. Approximately one-fifth of them got infection from work. Occupations, especially working with or contact with foreigners and working in a high density of people, were high-risk factors. Several enterprises had implemented preventive and control measures. Prompt policy advocacy, knowledge-based recommendations and communication with target groups were essential.Copyright © 2022, Mattioli 1885. All rights reserved.

Depression, Anxiety, Stress and Anger of the Cabin Crew during the COVID-19 Pandemic in South Korea.

This study examines the levels of depression, anxiety, stress, and state and trait anger of cabin crews, as well as the differences in the main variables and general characteristics between the depression and anxiety groups, during the COVID-19 pandemic. This descriptive cross-sectional study used data from 161 Korean cabin crew members. Data were analyzed using descriptive analysis, independent t-tests, and chi-square tests. Of the participants, 62.7% were women, and 52.2% and 46.6% were classified into the depression and anxiety groups, respectively. No differences in the general characteristics between the non-depression and depression groups were found. However, in the anxiety group, there were significant differences in age, marital status, position, and work type during the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, the anxiety group showed a higher anger state (approximately 6.76 times higher than the normal group) than the depression group (approximately 4.90 times higher than the normal group). In a pandemic, airlines should screen cabin crews for depression and anxiety. The development and applications of mental health education for high-risk groups should include anger intervention.

Factors Related to COVID-19-Preventive Behaviors among Flight Attendants.

The health and safety of airline employees have been important issues during the 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. The exposure of flight attendants to passengers with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection without protective equipment is known to cause in-flight transmission and the worldwide spread of the virus. However, very few studies have focused on flight attendants' COVID-19-preventive behaviors and related factors. This cross-sectional study was performed to investigate relationships between COVID-19-preventive behaviors and relevant factors in a convenience sample of flight attendants. In total, 261 flight attendants working for two international airlines were recruited. A self-developed questionnaire was used to assess participants' COVID-19 information-seeking behavior, perceived susceptibility, severity, self-efficacy, and preventive behaviors. Analysis of variance and Pearson's correlation analysis were performed to analyze COVID-19 preventive behaviors according to socio-demographic and COVID-19-related factors. Multiple regression analysis was used to predict the flight attendants' COVID-19-preventive behaviors. The factors that primarily influenced participants' COVID-19-preventive behaviors were gender (women; ß = 0.17, p < 0.001), information-seeking behavior (ß = 0.39, p < 0.000), perceived severity (ß = 0.130, p < 0.05), and self-efficacy (ß = 0.17, p < 0.05). These factors explained 30.6% of the variance in COVID-19-preventive behaviors among flight attendants. Identification of the preventive behaviors performed by this population is important, as it aids the development of strategies to enhance such behaviors, thereby reducing the in-flight spread of COVID-19.

COVID-19 in the Airline Industry: The Good, the Bad, and the Necessary.

The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly affected flight attendants' health, safety, and security. Members of this group work in a densely occupied and enclosed space where social distancing is virtually impossible, compliance with mask rules is uneven, aggressive passenger incidents are at an all-time high, and the vaccination status of passengers on domestic flights is unknown. Here is a description of the response by the federal government and the United States (U.S.) airline industry from the perspective of a flight attendant union between the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic and this writing. Specifically, the issues of ventilation, face masks, aggressive passengers, quarantine and isolation, and vaccinations are reviewed, including actions taken by the executive branch of the U.S. government, regulators, airlines, manufacturers, and our crew member union. Although there will be regional differences around the globe, many of these issues are universal.

Interplay Between Air Travel, Genome Integrity, and COVID-19 Risk vis-a-vis Flight Crew.

During air travel, flight crew (flight attendants, pilots) can be exposed to numerous flight-related environmental DNA damaging agents that may be at the root of an excess risk of cancer and other diseases. This already complex mix of exposures is now joined by SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. The complex exposures experienced during air travel present a challenge to public health research, but also provide an opportunity to consider new strategies for understanding and countering their health effects. In this article, we focus on threats to genomic integrity that occur during air travel and discuss how these threats and our ability to respond to them may influence the risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection and the development of range of severity of the symptoms. We also discuss how the virus itself may lead to compromised genome integrity. We argue that dauntingly complex public health problems, such as the challenge of protecting flight crews from COVID-19, must be met with interdisciplinary research teams that include epidemiologists, engineers, and mechanistic biologists.