The impact of government pandemic policies on the vulnerability of healthcare workers to SARS-CoV-2 infection and mortality in Jakarta Province, Indonesia

AbstractIntroduction Healthcare workers (HCWs) are on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic, putting them at a higher risk of infection and disease than non-HCWs. We analysed the effects of government policies for the public and for HCWs on the likelihood of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection and mortality among HCWs during the first 8 months of the pandemic in Jakarta province, the capital city and COVID-19 hotspot in Indonesia.Methods We conducted a retrospective cohort study using secondary data from the Jakarta provincial government from March to October 2020, which included sociodemographic characteristics, symptoms, comorbidities and COVID-19 diagnosis history for all cases. A generalized linear mixed-effect regression model was used to determine the effect of each month on the odds ratio (OR) of COVID-19 cases and deaths for HCW compared with non-HCW, assuming that monthly trends were influenced by varying government policies.Results A total of 894,487 suspected and confirmed COVID-19 cases in health facilities in Jakarta province were analysed. The OR of confirmed cases for HCW was 2.04 (95% CI 2.00–2.08; p