Covid-19 Risk Factor Among Health Workers

Coronavirus disease (Covid-19) is a recently identified infectious disease. Most people who are sick with Covid-19, will experience mild symptoms and survive without any specific treatment. The spread of this Covid-19 virus is similar to the common cold through physical contact and also the production of small molecules such as sneezing and coughing. Senior citizens and people who are having health problems such as diabetes and high blood pressure are at the risk of becoming infected. In addition, health workers are also at high risk of becoming infected because they are close to Covid-19 patients. Therefore, the Covid-19 risk factor among health workers is lack of protection, exposure to infected patients, work overload, poor infection control, and non-compliance with preventive measures.

Lack of protection can risk the health workers to the Covid-19 virus. This is because the virus has spread all over the world and each of them needs protection from it. This situation will increase the number of medical protection needed by the health workers. For example, in every department, the health workers will change their Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to reduce the risk of infection. This can show that PPE is now needed in the most quantity, especially for medical use. Governments have to increase the production of PPE because it is essential for the health workers during this pandemic situation. Through this way, the production of PPE can be accelerated, and also it will facilitate the affairs of all health workers.

Other than lack of protection, the health workers also expose to the infected patients. They are the closest group to deal with Covid-19 patients. They have to meet and check up on the patient. The health workers have to do physical contact to manage patients. For example, they have to clean all the patient's surroundings including their bedsheets. They also have to keep in touch with their patients and update the report every hour. It is also compulsory for them to look after every patient in the hospital. This exposure can be seen as the greatest risk of infection to the health workers. This situation has shown that the health workers have to make sure they are wearing complete protection from head to toe to prevent them from becoming infected due to physical contact.

Furthermore, work overload also can risk the health workers to Covid-19. Normal, the health workers will work 9 hours per day. Thus, during this pandemic, they have to work over 24 hours per day. For example, health workers have to update their patient's reports frequently. If they actually have been working for 9 hours, they will definitely feel tired. This will make they're physical become weaker and the immune system cannot work properly. Their eating schedule is also disorganized due to being too busy with work. Therefore, when the diet schedule is irregular, the body cells are unable to work properly to produce high levels of immunization and this exposes them to Covid-19 virus infection.

Hence, poor infection control also leads to the risk of Covid-19 to health workers. Increased infection rates cause infection control to become weaker. This is because the spread of the virus that is invisible to the naked eye has caused the infection to occur unnoticed. For example, Covid-19 is spreading not only through sneezing and coughing, but will also remain on a surface that has been touched by the patients for several hours. This proves that the higher the rate of Covid-19 patients in a hospital, the weaker the infection control around despite being prevented by periodic disinfection. So, all the hospital staff must ensure cleanliness at the highest level to reduce the risk of infection

Last but not least, non-compliance with preventive measures also leads the health workers to Covid-19. Each of them has to follow the instruction that has given by the government. They must comply with all the Standard Of Procedure (SOP) to ensure they are not infected with the virus. For example, they are reminded to always wash their hands after performing their tasks, especially those involving Covid-19 patients. They also need to beware while carrying out their duties by maintaining social distance between other workers and patients. Therefore, adherence to preventive measures is very important to reduce the risk of infection among health workers.

In conclusion, there are many risk Covid-19 factors among the health workers. They must always vigilant and prepared for any probability. They should always use protective equipment, minimize physical contact with patients, control eating schedules, ensure maximum hygiene, and adhere to Standards Of Protection (SOP). In addition, as health workers, they have to prepare physically and mentally so that they can keep continuing to do their job well. Health workers must not underestimate the importance of cleanliness even they are in a risk-free place. Meanwhile, as caring citizens, we must together help and support our frontliners by providing moral support and obeying all the instructions of the authorities.