Many Symptomatic Individuals Appear to Report to Work in May

Written By Data Foundation

Nick Hart, Ph.D., President, Data Foundation

As state and local governments lift stay-at-home orders and other restrictions in place to minimize the risk of spreading COVID-19 to others, additional education may be needed for the American people about symptoms that could indicate illness or risky behavior. 

According to data from the COVID Impact Survey, collected May 4-10, about one-third of the country overall indicated no COVID-like symptom in the prior week (36%), while 6 in 10 reported at least one symptom recognized by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). 

In May, many Americans reported multiple COVID symptoms, 3 in 10 acknowledged three or more CDC-recognized symptoms over the past week. [1,2] Yet, only 20 percent of those reporting three or more symptoms also indicated they had stayed home because they felt unwell. [3]

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When it comes to individuals going to work while displaying symptoms, 18 percent of individuals who worked away from the home and self-reported a fever, indicated they had not postponed or canceled work. [4] Similarly, 31 percent of individuals working away from home who reported three or more symptoms identified by CDC indicated they had not postponed or canceled work. 

In other words, many symptomatic workers indicated they are continuing to report to work, potentially exposing colleagues, commuters, or customers to illness. Policymakers and organizational managers should take appropriate precautions and safeguards to ensure sick workers stay home and support in-person health checks, as recommended by CDC. [5]

Full results and microdata for analysis from the COVID Impact Survey are available at covid-impact.org. 

Notes:

[1] CDC 2020:  https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/symptoms-testing/symptoms.html

[2] Author tabulation recoding PHYS1n to create a symptom index for A B C D F G I J K L N O P.

[3] Author tabulation using Version 2.0 of COVID Impact Survey data, with symptom index and PHYS2_18.

[4] Author tabulation using Version 2.0 of COVID Impact Survey data, with variables ECON1, PHYS2_9, PHYS2_4, PHYS1A. Includes households with respondents who reported working for pay, did not work from home, self-reported a fever, and indicated they did not cancel work activities in the past week. 

[5] CDC 2020:  https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/guidance-business-response.html

Data Foundation http://www.datafoundation.org/
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