Characteristics of retail essential employees in a single grocery store in Massachusetts, USA by SARS-CoV-2 (the virus causing COVID-19) RT-PCR assay testing results
| Overall (N=104) | Positive SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR assay (N=21) | Negative SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR assay (N=83) | P value | |
| Age, mean (SD) | 49.0 (14.1) | 49.2 (14.4) | 49.0 (14.2) | 0.954 |
| Female, n (%) | 49 (47.1%) | 11 (52.4%) | 38 (45.8%) | 0.767 |
| Non-Caucasian, n (%) | 64 (61.5%) | 14 (66.7%) | 50 (60.2%) | 0.283 |
| Cigarette smoker, n (%) | 25 (24.0%) | 1 (4.8%) | 24 (28.9%) | 0.022* |
| Daily alcohol consumption, n (%) | 8 (7.7%) | 0 | 8 (9.6%) | 0.354* |
| Marijuana use, n (%) | 14 (13.5%) | 2 (9.5%) | 12 (14.5%) | 0.730* |
| Self-reported exposure to SARS-CoV-2-positive individual(s) in the past 14 days, n (%) | 24 (23.1%) | 4 (19.0%) | 20 (24.1%) | 0.776* |
| Job positions with direct customer exposure at store†, n (%) | 68 (65.4%) | 19 (90.5%) | 49 (59.0%) | 0.009* |
| Full-time employment status, n (%) | 73 (70.2%) | 16 (76.2%) | 57 (68.7%) | 0.685 |
| Residential area SARS-CoV-2 prevalence (per 100 000), geometric mean (geometric SD) | 1106.0 (1.5) | 1292.8 (1.63) | 1063.2 (1.4) | 0.179‡ |
| Ability to practice social distancing consistently at work, count (%) | 69 (66.3%) | 13 (61.9%) | 56 (67.5%) | 0.930 |
| Using gloves consistently at work, count (%) | 80 (76.9%) | 19 (90.5%) | 61 (73.5%) | 0.068* |
| Wearing face mask consistently at work, count (%) | 95 (91.3%) | 20 (95.2%) | 75 (90.4%) | 0.596* |
| Wearing face mask consistently outside of work, count (%) | 81 (77.9%) | 18 (85.7%) | 63 (75.9%) | 0.348* |
| Commute to work by foot, bike or private car | 90 (86.5%) | 19 (90.5%) | 71 (85.5%) | 0.730* |
| PPE knowledge score, median (IQR) | 15 (14–15) | 15 (14–15) | 15 (14–15) | 0.966 ‡ |
| COVID-19 perception score, median (IQR) | 12 (11–15) | 13 (11–15) | 12 (11–14) | 0.510 ‡ |
| GAD-7 score, median (IQR) | 0 (0–4) | 1 (0–4.5) | 0 (0–4) | 0.660‡ |
| PHQ-9 score, median (IQR) | 0 (0–2) | 0 (0–1) | 0 (0–2) | 0.733‡ |
| Employee has an assigned primary care provider, n (%) | 77 (74.0%) | 17 (81.0%) | 60 (72.3%) | 0.584* |
| Requested mental health support on survey, n (%) | 14 (13.5%) | 3 (14.3%) | 11 (13.3%) | 0.999* |
*Statistics derived from Fisher’s exact test.
†Direct customer exposure positions include cashier, front end associate, sales associate, fresh food associate, cart attendant, janitorial crew, supervisor and manager of all levels. These are in contrast to positions mainly dealing with consumer goods or the environment, such as stocker, backroom, receiving and maintenance.
‡Statistics derived from Wilcoxon rank sum test with continuity correction.
GAD-7, Generalised Anxiety Disorder 7-item scale; PHQ-9, Patient Health Questionnaire-9; PPE, personal protective equipment.