An outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 in a public-facing office in England, 2021
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Abstract
Between August-September 2021, an outbreak of SARS-CoV-2, with an attack rate of 55% (22/40 workers), occurred in a public-facing office in England. To identify workplace and worker-related risk factors, a comprehensive investigation involving surface sampling, environmental assessment, molecular and serological testing, and worker questionnaires was performed in September – October 2021. The results affirm the utility of surface sampling to identify SARS-CoV-2 control deficiencies and the importance of evolving, site-specific risk assessments with layered COVID-19 mitigation strategies.
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SciScore for 10.1101/2022.01.31.22269194: (What is this?)
Please note, not all rigor criteria are appropriate for all manuscripts.
Table 1: Rigor
Ethics not detected. Sex as a biological variable not detected. Randomization not detected. Blinding not detected. Power Analysis not detected. Table 2: Resources
No key resources detected.
Results from OddPub: We did not detect open data. We also did not detect open code. Researchers are encouraged to share open data when possible (see Nature blog).
Results from LimitationRecognizer: We detected the following sentences addressing limitations in the study:The limitations of this study warrant consideration. Surface sampling and participant testing performed closer to the peak of cases could yield a more representative indication of contamination within the facility and facilitate more informative genomic …
SciScore for 10.1101/2022.01.31.22269194: (What is this?)
Please note, not all rigor criteria are appropriate for all manuscripts.
Table 1: Rigor
Ethics not detected. Sex as a biological variable not detected. Randomization not detected. Blinding not detected. Power Analysis not detected. Table 2: Resources
No key resources detected.
Results from OddPub: We did not detect open data. We also did not detect open code. Researchers are encouraged to share open data when possible (see Nature blog).
Results from LimitationRecognizer: We detected the following sentences addressing limitations in the study:The limitations of this study warrant consideration. Surface sampling and participant testing performed closer to the peak of cases could yield a more representative indication of contamination within the facility and facilitate more informative genomic sequencing and epidemiological assessment [13]. Although workplace transmission appears likely, given the clustering of cases in some areas and positive environmental sampling, we were unable to clarify chains of transmission and determine whether cases may have been independently introduced from community sources. Notably, the worker participation rate in COVID-OUT was 30%, with an underrepresentation of male workers as well as cleaning and security staff. The small sample size and potential for selection bias limit our ability to evaluate individual risk factors within the workplace. The ability to rapidly investigate SARS-CoV-2 outbreaks in workplaces and implement data-informed SARS-CoV-2 transmission mitigation measures is of importance for maintaining core societal functions during the COVID-19 pandemic. This is particularly relevant to workplaces with public-facing elements that have a dynamic population with an elevated risk of virus introduction and onward transmission. Mechanisms to encourage workplaces to report potential outbreaks as early as practicable and engage with research studies, like the one presented here, should be prioritized to further our understanding of transmission and to provide safer work environ...
Results from TrialIdentifier: No clinical trial numbers were referenced.
Results from Barzooka: We did not find any issues relating to the usage of bar graphs.
Results from JetFighter: We did not find any issues relating to colormaps.
Results from rtransparent:- Thank you for including a conflict of interest statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
- Thank you for including a funding statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
- No protocol registration statement was detected.
Results from scite Reference Check: We found no unreliable references.
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