Geneva, Oct 13 (AFP/APP):Health workers have since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic been disproportionately affected by the crisis, but the WHO said Tuesday their high infection levels had finally begun to subside. While the coronavirus crisis has taken a heavy toll overall, data from many countries and regions show that healthcare workers have been infected at a far higher rate than the general population. Health workers represent less than three percent of the population in most countries, but have accounted for around 14 percent of all Covid-19 cases reported to the WHO, and in some countries they have accounted for over a third of cases. But the UN health agency said analysis of reported data from 83 countries, mainly in Europe and the Americas, now showed that “there has been a substantial decline in (health worker) infection since the beginning of the epidemic.” The proportion of health workers among the newly infected “is decreasing steadily”, Anne Perrocheau, a WHO epidemiologist, told a virtual press briefing, adding their proportion was now close to their share of the general population. A number of factors have contributed to the high numbers of health workers infected by the virus, including a dire shortage … Continue reading Covid-19 infections among health workers declining: WHO