Occupational inequalities in the prevalence of COVID-19: A longitudinal observational study of England, August 2020 to January 2021

Green, Mark ORCID: 0000-0002-0942-6628 and Semple, Malcolm ORCID: 0000-0001-9700-0418 (2023) Occupational inequalities in the prevalence of COVID-19: A longitudinal observational study of England, August 2020 to January 2021. PLoS One, 18 (4). e0283119-.

Text revised_v2_plosone_clean.docx - Author Accepted Manuscript Download (88kB)

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has reinforced, amplified and created new health inequalities. Examining how COVID-19 prevalence varies by measures of work and occupation may help to understand these inequalities. The aim of the study is to evaluate how occupational inequalities in the prevalence of COVID-19 varies across England and their possible explanatory factors. We used data for 363,651 individuals (2,178,835 observations) aged 18 years and over between 1st May 2020 and 31st January 2021 from the Office for National Statistics Covid Infection Survey, a representative longitudinal survey of individuals in England. We focus on two measures of work; employment status for all adults, and work sector of individuals currently working. Multi-level binomial regression models were used to estimate the likelihood of testing positive of COVID-19, adjusting for known explanatory covariates. 0.9% of participants tested positive for COVID-19 over the study period. COVID-19 prevalence was higher among adults who were students or furloughed (i.e., temporarily not working). Among adults currently working, COVID-19 prevalence was highest in adults employed in the hospitality sector, with higher prevalence for individuals employed in transport, social care, retail, health care and educational sectors. Inequalities by work were not consistent over time. We find an unequal distribution of infections relating to COVID-19 by work and employment status. While our findings demonstrate the need for greater workplace interventions to protect employees tailored to their specific work sector needs, focusing on employment alone ignores the importance of SARS-CoV-2 transmission outside of employed work (i.e., furloughed and student populations).

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Humans, Prevalence, Adolescent, Adult, Employment, Pandemics, COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2
Divisions:	Faculty of Science and Engineering > School of Environmental Sciences
Depositing User:	Symplectic Admin
Date Deposited:	09 Mar 2023 08:21
Last Modified:	31 May 2023 19:54
DOI:	10.1371/journal.pone.0283119
Related URLs:	Author Publisher
URI:	https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3168867