Working conditions and lack of information on the impact of COVID-19 among health workers

Abstract

Introduction: the Covid-19 pandemic has made it more relevant to review workers’ health protection matters. Objective: to discuss the health and safety conditions of the health workers who care for COVID-19 patients, from the perspective of the information gathered by their professional class representatives and from institutional recommendations. Methods: we searched the academic literature, documents and guidelines provided by official health institutions and health workers’ unions. Discussion: we described the characteristics of the infection by SARS-CoV-2 in health care work, presented initiatives taken by health workers’ unions against the disease, outlined the health care working conditions during the pandemic in Brazil, and approached the protection measures recommended by national and international entities. We end by discussing how the exposure to these working conditions may lead the health workers to experience other clinical events that require compliance measures concerning the amount of professionals, improvement in organization and in working conditions, provision of adequate personal protective equipment, and implementation of measures to strengthen health teams to face COVID-19.