People with more difficult cases of COVID-19 are hospitalized. This means that there is a higher concentration of COVID-19 patients in hospitals. But does that mean that people should be afraid of visiting their family doctors and other health professionals?

Scientists from UCL and Queen Mary University of London have a short answer – no.

Doctors have no choice – they have to treat people with COVID-19. This involves having a close contact with that person several times per day. And, of course, there is never just one patient per doctor. This means that the same doctors are treating patients with other conditions too. And people are afraid of contracting this infection just from visiting the hospital.

However, scientists say that the risk of COVID-19 for doctors is about the same as for the general population. In fact, scientists think that it is very unlikely for hospital staff to contract this condition from patients – they are more likely to get it from someone else in their day to day lives. This is because they are using protective gear, which covers all the major passages for the virus. Safety standards in hospitals are very strict as they should be – doctors don’t want to spread flu and other diseases either. Therefore, scientists say that as COVID-19 pandemic recedes the risk of infection from healthcare workers without symptoms is unlikely.

Of course, there have been cases of COVID-19 in the medical community. People who start feeling symptoms are isolating themselves at home – they are not coming to work to spread disease to their colleagues and patients. Since lockdown was introduced in UK the rate of asymptomatic infection amongst hospital staff fell from 7% to 1%. Again, all of this means that it is highly unlikely to contract COVID-19 from your doctor.

Scientists still think that testing should increase. Cases of COVID-19 in general population are decreasing. This leaves some more testing capabilities, which could be used for medical staff. Additional testing, involving even those doctors who don’t show any symptoms, could ensure the general public that it is ok to reach out to your doctors. Professor James Moon, leader of this research, said: “Public fear of hospitals is currently high, with the risk that patients with serious and treatable diseases present too late to prevent adverse outcomes. Our findings show that currently the rate of asymptomatic infection among hospital staff more likely reflects general community transmission than in hospital exposure”.

COVID-19 caused a pandemic of fear. But people have to realize that other diseases didn’t go anywhere. People still get sick and need medical attention. Not seeking one out of fear can be very dangerous.

Source: UCL