Health behaviours and wellbeing of health workers amidst the COVID-19 pandemic

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has led to heightened levels of anxiety and stress levels towards the health threats posed by the SARS-CoV-2 virus. At least 10% of those infected were health workers. In addition, a large proportion of infected cases and deaths were possibly due to SARS-CoV-2 infections acquired in hospitals or long-term care facilities. Health workers, especially those working on the frontline play a crucial role in controlling and preventing the COVID-19 pandemic. Previous studies reported that health workers were exposed to severe emotional stress (i.e., burnout, depression and anxiety symptoms) during the outbreaks of infectious diseases including severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), Ebola and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS). It is therefore important to be aware that prolonged exposure to moderate-to severe stress can have negative health consequences and reduce the work performance of health workers. Therefore, some immediate measures should be taken by the health care institutions and relevant health authorities to ensure that Chinese health workers are better supported in caring for large number of COVID-19 patients. Future studies should examine the health status and work efficiency of health workers working in high stress environment amidst the COVID-19 pandemic or other disasters