Occupational COVID-19 Exposures and Illnesses among Workers in California-Analysis of a New Occupational COVID-19 Surveillance System.

Little is known about occupational SARS-CoV-2 exposures and COVID-19 outcomes. We established a Doctor's First Reports of Occupational Injury or Illness (DFR)-based surveillance system to study cases of work-related COVID-19 exposures and disease. The surveillance data included demographics, occupation, industry, exposure, and illness, details including hospitalization and lost work. We classified workers into 'healthcare', non-healthcare 'public-facing', or 'other' worker groups, and rural-urban commuting areas (RUCAs). We describe worker exposures and outcomes overall by worker group and RUCA. We analyzed 2848 COVID-19 DFRs representing workers in 22 detailed occupation groups and 19 industry groups. Most DFRs were for workers in metropolitan RUCAs (89%) and those in healthcare (42%) and public-facing (24%) worker groups. While DFRs were from 382 unique worksites, 52% were from four hospitals and one prison. Among 1063 DFRs with a suspected exposure, 73% suspected exposure to a patient or client. Few DFRs indicated hospitalization (3.9%); however, the proportion hospitalized was higher among nonmetropolitan (7.4%) and public-facing (6.7%) workers. While 56% of DFRs indicated some lost work time, the proportion was highest among public-facing (80%) workers. Healthcare and prison workers were the majority of reported occupational COVID-19 exposures and illnesses. The risk of COVID-19 hospitalization and lost work may be highest among nonmetropolitan and public-facing workers.

Increases in Prevalent Depressed Mood and Suicidal Ideation among Workers during the COVID-19 Pandemic-Findings from the California Health Interview Survey.

Limited data exist on COVID-19's mental health impact on non-healthcare workers. We estimated the prevalence of depressed mood and suicidal ideation experienced in the past year among California workers and assessed whether the prevalence changed during the COVID-19 pandemic. We analyzed 2013-2020 California Health Interview Survey data using survey-weighted methods to assess the change in the prevalence of depressed mood and suicidal ideation from 2019 to 2020 for working adults by demographics and occupational groups. We used trend-adjusted quasi-Poisson regressions and report rate ratios (RR), comparing the prevalence of outcomes during 2020 to the pre-pandemic period (2013-2019). We identified priority occupation groups with a higher-than-average outcome prevalence in 2020 and rate increases after adjusting for pre-pandemic trends. Our analysis included 168,768 respondents, of which 65% were workers. Production and service workers were the priority occupation groups for depressed mood (RR: 1.46, CI: 1.1-1.9; RR: 1.23, CI: 1.1-1.4) and suicidal ideation (RR: 1.86, CI: 1.0-3.6; RR: 1.47, CI: 1.1-1.9). Workers aged 45-65 years experienced over a 30% relative increase in both outcomes from 2019 to 2020. Depressed mood and suicidal ideation in the past year increased for production, service, and older workers during the pandemic. These groups should be considered for mental health interventions.