More than 230,000 health workers around the world have contracted the novel coronavirus since the start of the global pandemic, while over 600 nurses have died from it, according to a new analysis by the International Council of Nurses.
The figures show that an average of 7% of all COVID-19 cases worldwide are among health care workers.
The International Council of Nurses, which represents more than 130 national nursing associations with 20 million members worldwide, said the analysis is based on data from its associations, official figures and media reports from a limited number of countries,” since “there is no systemic and standardized record” of the global number of nurses and health care workers who have tested positive for COVID-19 or succumbed to the disease.
The group is calling on governments to record the number of COVID-19 infections and deaths among health care staff as well as take whatever measures are needed to protect them.
‘Without this data we do not know the true cost of COVID-19, and that will make us less able to tackle other pandemics in the future,” ICN CEO Howard Catton said in a statement Wednesday.
