Devastating figures.
The International Council of Nurses (ICN) says its analysis of available data from a limited number of countries shows more than 230,000 healthcare workers have contracted the disease, and more than 600 nurses have now died from the virus.
ICN’s figures reveals that on average 7% of all COVID-19 cases worldwide are among healthcare staff.
Expand these numbers to cover all the world’s countries suggests around 450,000 of the world’s 6.5 million-plus cases could be among healthcare workers.
The ICN is repeating its call to governments to record the number of infections and deaths among healthcare staff, and ensure better protections for nurses from COVID-19.
As ICN Chief Executive Officer Howard Catton concluded: “Nursing is looking like one of the most dangerous jobs in the world at the moment.”
