More corona infections among employees | Inland

The latest report covers the period from September 13 to 26. Different sectors are compared on the basis of the incidences – the number of infections per 100,000 people in two weeks.

The incidence in the working population is 244, compared to 179 in the previous period from August 30 to September 12. That’s an increase of 36 percent. The number of infections in the working population is therefore slightly higher than in the general population, in which the incidence is 240. In the previous period, an incidence of 186 was measured.

Incidences are increasing in all sectors, but especially in the healthcare sector. An incidence of 400 has been recorded in hospitals. This corresponds to that of the end of May, at the beginning of the summer wave. Education also scores poorly: primary education comes out at 244, secondary at 312. It is also striking that the incidence among train staff has increased sharply. At 305, that figure lands well above that of the general population.

According to Professor Godderis, the increase is no surprise. “This is what the models predicted. We may know the peak of this increase in the second half of October,” he says.

Godderis points out that short-term sick leave, with people absent from work for less than 30 days, was a third higher this summer than other years. Absenteeism will increase further, according to the professor, due to the rising number of infections. “Companies are doing their best to leave sick people at home to prevent further spread, ventilate well and monitor air quality,” says Godderis. “It’s also good to work in smaller teams, for example. And anyone who has symptoms should be tested quickly,” he concludes.