The COVID-19 pandemic is causing a heavy burden in hospital healthcare workers (HCW) in terms of increased work, organizational changes, risk exposure, and social stigma. The present study aims at evaluating the psychological outcome among HCWs at the final stages of the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. This cross-sectional and survey-based study was conducted during June 2020 among 996 HCWs of the University Hospital of Padova. All the subjects completed questionnaires investigating the perception of risk of infecting or being infected by COVID-19, psychopathological variables, and coping abilities. Compared to physicians and healthcare assistants, nurses showed higher levels of depression (p = 0.002), insomnia (p < 0.001), and generalized anxiety (p = 0.001). Females reported increased concerns about the possibility of infecting others (p = 0.046), greater anxiety (p < 0.001), COVID-19 related fears (p < 0.001), depression (p < 0.001), and post-traumatic distress (p < 0.001) than males. Being employed in a COVID-19 unit, being transferred to other units, and living with children and the elderly were factors associated with higher levels of psychological distress. Greater coping abilities were detected in physicians, and in those HCWs employed in COVID units. Our findings evidenced that the psychological consequences of the pandemic were non-homogeneously distributed across HCWs categories and pointed out the presence of specific in-hospital and out-of-hospital risk factors.

Background: Since the beginning of SARS-CoV-2 outbreak, a large number of infections have been reported among healthcare workers (HCWs). The aim of this study was to investigate the occurrence of SARS-CoV-2 infection among HCWs involved in the first management of infected patients and to describe the measures adopted to prevent the transmission in the hospital. Methods: This prospective observational study was conducted between February 21 and April 16, 2020, in the Padua University Hospital (north-east Italy). The infection control policy adopted consisted of the following: the creation of the “Advanced Triage” area for the evaluation of SARS-CoV-2 cases, and the implementation of an integrated infection control surveillance system directed to all the healthcare personnel involved in the Advance Triage area. HCWs were regularly tested with nasopharyngeal swabs for SARS-CoV-2; body temperature and suggestive symptoms were evaluated at each duty. Demographic and clinical data of both patients and HCWs were collected and analyzed; HCWs’ personal protective equipment (PPE) consumption was also recorded. The efficiency of the control strategy among HCWs was evaluated identifying symptomatic infection (primary endpoint) and asymptomatic infection (secondary endpoint) with confirmed detection of SARS-CoV-2. Results: 7595 patients were evaluated in the Advanced Triage area: 5.2% resulted positive and 72.4% was symptomatic. The HCW team was composed of 60 members. A total of 361 nasopharyngeal swabs were performed on HCWs. All the swabs resulted negative and none of the HCWs reached the primary or the secondary endpoint. Conclusions: An integrated hospital infection control strategy, consisting of dedicated areas for infected patients, strict measures for PPE use and mass surveillance, is successful to prevent infection among HCWs.

At the beginning of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV2) outbreak in Italy, the cluster of Vò Euganeo was managed by the University Hospital of Padova. The Department of Diagnostic Imaging (DDI) conceived an organizational approach based on three different pathways for low-risk, high-risk, and confirmed Coronavirus Disease 19 (COVID-19) patients to accomplish three main targets: guarantee a safe pathway for non-COVID-19 patients, ensure health personnel safety, and maintain an efficient workload. Thus, an additional pathway was created with the aid of a trailer-mounted Computed Tomography (CT) scanner devoted to positive patients. We evaluated the performance of our approach from February 21 through April 12 in terms of workload (e.g., number of CT examinations) and safety (COVID-19-positive healthcare workers). There was an average of 72.2 and 17.8 COVID-19 patients per day in wards and the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), respectively. A total of 176 high-risk and positive patients were examined. High Resolution Computed Tomography (HRCT) was one of the most common exams, and 24 pulmonary embolism scans were performed. No in-hospital transmission occurred in the DDI neither among patients nor among health personnel. The weekly number of in-patient CT examinations decreased by 27.4%, and the surgical procedures decreased by 29.5%. Patient screening and dedicated diagnostic pathways allowed the maintenance of high standards of care while working in safety.