Reflections on the health-work relation and exposure to COVID-19

The pandemic of the new coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) has brought theoretical and practical challenges in the scientific and social fields, intensifying already existing problems, such as the relationship between working conditions and the health of the working class. Workers are key players both in the control and the spread of the disease, and especially those in the healthcare sector since they are necessarily in contact with other people. Therefore, the present article aimed to reflect, from an occupational health perspective, on the guidelines of the Brazilian Ministry of Health, expressed in publications on the clinical management of suspected, confirmed, or influenza-like cases, and the recommendations for the protection of workers who are in charge of treating the 2019 novel coronavirus disease. The present analysis highlighted the importance of the development of more comprehensive measures by the State that are in line with the reality of many workers in the context of the pandemic, thus transcending the prescriptive, biological, and individual character that disregards the social determinations that guide the possible care measures.