Effect of public transportation on incidence of COVID-19 in HCWs

Editor's Note

In this study from Switzerland, regular use of public transportation by healthcare workers (HCWs) was not found to affect the risk for acquiring COVID-19.

Of 376 HCWs analyzed, 225 used public transportation.

By group comparison, HCWs using public transportation did not acquire a significantly greater percentage of COVID-19 than those using private transportation—58 of 225 vs 36 of 151, respectively.

When asked about their most likely means of acquiring infection, none of the 94 COVID-19 positive HCWs indicated that public transportation was the source.

In multivariate analysis, contact with a team member with respiratory symptoms was the most relevant factor for acquiring COVID-19.

The study time period was during the most intense wave of COVID-19 in Zurich (winter2020/2021), during which there was a mask mandate for public transport.