Electronic self-assessment of COVID-19 symptoms among healthcare workers

Daily monitoring of COVID-19 symptoms/history of contact in hospital staff is useful for ensuring safety in the hospital. An electronic self- assessment tool could be used to monitor staff without using excessive resources and resulting in unnecessary contact. The objective of our study was to describe the results of a self-assessment COVID-19 daily monitor log in hospital employees.

A description of characteristics of staff who filled the log and follow-up of those who reported symptoms/history of contact was collected. An online self-assessment of COVID-19 symptoms/contact history was developed and used at a hospital in Bahrain. All staff completed the daily COVID-19 log. Data were collected during the month of June 2020.

Out of 47,388 responses, 853 (2%) of staff reported either COVID-19 symptoms/history of contact with diagnosed COVID-19 case. The most frequently reported symptom was sore throat (23%), followed by muscle pain (12.6%). The highest frequency of staff who reported symptoms and/or contact was in nurses. Of those who reported symptoms/contact, 18 were diagnosed with COVID-19. The majority (83.3%) of the infected staff obtained the virus through community transmission, and only 16.7% obtained the virus through hospital transmission.

The electronic self-assessment log for staff during COVID-19 could be used as a safety measure in hospitals. Moreover, the study highlights the importance of targeting community transmission in an effort to increase hospital safety.