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Ann Arbor, March 11, 2021 - Black and Hispanic people experience a higher risk for COVID-19 and severe illness, influenced by factors such as discrimination, housing, and healthcare access and utilization. Now, a new study in the
American Journal of Preventive Medicine, published by Elsevier, identifies specific job categories that put workers at risk because they require working in close contact with others. Some of these jobs have a disproportionately high number of Black or Hispanic workers. The findings should be used to inform workplace interventions to reduce the risk for these particularly vulnerable communities.
"About three-quarters of US workers have jobs either indoors or outdoors that involve contact with other people that is sufficiently close to put them at higher risk for COVID-19," explained co-investigators Jean M. Cox-Ganser, PhD, and Paul K. Henneberger, ScD, both of the Respiratory Health Division, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Morgantown, WV, USA. "Our findings provide insight on where to reach the greatest number of workers who are potentially at risk for COVID-19 based on working close to others, including which occupations have larger numbers of minority workers."