Men and women working in social care – including care workers and home carers – had significantly higher rates of deaths involving COVID-19 compared with those of the same age and sex in the general population of England and Wales.
As the coronavirus (COVID-19) has spread in the UK, many workers have been told to work from home, some have been furloughed, and others have begun using personal protective equipment (PPE) to try to contain and prevent the spread of the infection. We have obtained an estimate of exposure to disease (generally) and physical proximity for UK occupations based on US analysis of these factors, using 2019 data.
While working practices and conditions may be slightly different in the US for similar occupations, these estimates offer valuable insight into occupations that involve working in close proximity with others and those that are regularly exposed to diseases. This is a useful indication of which roles may be more likely to come into contact with people with COVID-19, based on what these roles normally entail.
There is a clear correlation between exposure to disease, and physical proximity to others across all occupations. Healthcare workers such as nurses and dental practitioners unsurprisingly both involve being exposed to disease on a daily basis, and they require close contact with others, though during the pandemic they are more likely to be using PPE.
The rate of COVID-19 deaths among male social care workers was 23.4 deaths per 100,000 men, compared with 9.9 deaths per 100,000 for the male population. The respective rates for females were 9.6 and 5.2 deaths per 100,000 women.
Meanwhile, rates of COVID-19 deaths among male and female health workers (such as doctors and nurses) were found to be similar to the general population.
The highest rates of deaths involving COVID-19 were seen among low-skilled workers such as male security guards (45.7 deaths per 100,000 men), followed by male taxi drivers and chauffeurs (36.4 deaths per 100,000).
This analysis covers deaths involving COVID-19 among those aged 20 to 64 years in England and Wales. The analysis includes deaths registered up to 20 April 2020, and as such the findings are provisional and could change as more deaths are registered.
Healthcare workers are exposed to disease on a daily basis and require close contact with others
Some elementary occupations are not exposed to disease, but do require close contact with others
Education workers have slightly lower exposure to disease and proximity to others
Some occupations involve working very closely with others (within arms length and often touching) and exposure to disease on a daily basis – the vast majority are healthcare professions. Looking at the characteristics of the workers in each of these occupations provides an insight into who might be more likely to be exposed to others with COVID-19 while doing their job.
There are more women working in occupations that are more likely to be in frequent contact with people and also frequently exposed to disease. Three in four workers (75%) in these roles are women. These include dental nurses, midwives, and veterinary nurses, where women make up the majority of workers.
Characteristics of workers in highest exposure occupations
One in five of those working in these occupations are aged 55 years or over, the same proportion as in the working population generally. Around half (50%) of those employed as care escorts are aged 55 years or over. Workers of this age are also over-represented in occupations like ambulance staff excluding paramedics (37%), houseparents (adults responsible for children in a residential childcare establishment, usually living in the same home) and residential wardens (35%), and prison service officers (24%).
One in five workers in these occupations are from black and minority ethnic (BAME)2 groups, compared with 11% of the working population. These workers make up around just over a quarter of the workers who are dental practitioners (28%), medical practitioners (28%) and ophthalmic opticians (27%). Additionally, they are over-represented in four other occupations – nurses, medical radiographers, nursing auxiliaries and assistants, and medical and dental technicians.
When it comes to pay, 6 out of 16 of these occupations have a median pay of lower than £13.213, the median hourly pay across the UK. Care escorts (who accompany vulnerable people on local journeys), dental nurses, and nursing auxiliaries and assistants have the lowest median pay per hour, ranging from £9.45 to £10.93.
Explore the data in full, and search for other occupations using the interactive scatterplot:
