COVID-19 related hospitalization and emergency department visits among Ontario workers

The COVID-19 pandemic had a profound impact on workers and posed challenges for workplace health and safety. Understanding the types of work settings in which COVID-19 transmission occurred most frequently, and the occupations and industries that were most affected, can help inform prevention policies and practices.

Study Objectives
This study examined occupational differences in COVID-19 testing, diagnosis, hospitalization and emergency department visits.

Study Methods
The Occupational Disease Surveillance System (ODSS) is a system that monitors disease outcomes among more than two million Ontario workers.

Key Findings
This fact sheet summarizes the risk of COVID-19 among workers in the Occupational Disease
Surveillance System (ODSS) based on emergency department visits and hospitalizations between
December 2020 and February 2021. Workers in each group (e.g. occupation) were compared to the
general population of Ontario. The ODSS monitors COVID-19 outcomes among more than 1 million
Ontario workers.