CDC Study Finds Teleworking Can Drop COVID-19 Infection Rates

Facility managers and cleaners may continue to work in empty buildings if employers follow advice from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and allow their workers to stay home. According to a recent CDC study, people who have tested positive for COVID-19 are almost twice as likely the ones who are “going into an office or school setting,” Fox News reports.

The study was published in CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report earlier this month. Researchers conducted a multistate case-control investigation July 1-29 to assess possible exposures to COVID-19. They selected 314 U.S. adults tested for SARS-CoV-2 from a random laboratory sample. These adults were contacted and interviewed by CDC personnel via telephone and split into two groups: 153 case-patients (positive) and 161 control-patients (negative).

The participants were from different states—California, Colorado, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee, Utah, and Washington. They also worked in different employment settings including health care facilities, large factory buildings, correctional or detention facilities, and education facilities. All participants were asked whether they were going into an office/workplace/school regularly, working from home/teleworking, or combining telework with working from outside their home.

Study results found that among the 248 participants who reported teleworking full or part-time, 35% tested positive for COVID-19 and 53% tested negative. In comparison, among those who reported going into the office or school regularly, 65% tested positive for COVID-19.

The authors of the report wrote that this study “provides evidence of the potential health benefits of teleworking associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.” They also suggest that businesses and employers “promote alternative work site options, such as telework, to support worker and community safety.” For industries in which telework options are not feasible, the CDC advises employers on safety support measures and workplace guidance.