You are viewing 1 of your 1 free articles
Care workers and construction workers among professions with highest COVID-19 death rates
Men and women working in social care have “significantly raised” coronavirus death risk, while men working in construction are also among those most likely to die of the virus, according to official data.
Office for National Statistics (ONS) data for England and Wales shows the care sector has a rate of 23.4 (45 in total) deaths per 100,000 males and 9.6 (86) deaths per 100,000 females, which is significantly higher than the rates among healthcare workers such as doctors and nurses.
For healthcare workers there were 10.2 (43) deaths per 100,000 males and 4.8 (63) deaths per 100,00 females – around half the rate for social care workers.
The data comes as a survey by the Regulator of Social Housing revealed concerns from care providers over the availability of personal protective equipment and staffing levels.
Ian Hudspeth, chair of the community well-being board at the Local Government Association, said: “These shocking statistics are another tragic reminder about the essential need for our vital social care workers to be fully protected and equipped to look after themselves, as well as our most elderly and vulnerable.”
READ MORE
The ONS data also showed that ‘elementary workers’ – such as construction workers and cleaners – had the highest death rates among males. For 100,000 male elementary workers there were 21.4 (225) deaths in total.
Construction workers had high rates of death involving COVID-19, with around 25.9 deaths per 100,000 males, the ONS noted.
Construction sites have been allowed to remain open during lockdown but many major house builders decided to shut down sites as a precaution. But several have now decided to reopen their sites following encouragement from the housing secretary, who said construction “can and should continue”.
The ONS said: “This analysis does not prove conclusively that the observed rates of death involving COVID-19 are necessarily caused by differences in occupational exposure; we adjusted for age but not for other factors such as ethnic group and place of residence.”
