While fear among U.S. workers of catching COVID-19 on the job has faded during the pandemic, this fear remains a factor for about 1 in 4 employed adults, Gallup finds.
Healthcare workers are among the groups that remain most concerned. Among employed adults surveyed in October, 34 percent of healthcare workers said they are "very" or "moderately" concerned about COVID-19 exposure at work, according to a Nov. 22 article on the marketing research firm's website. This compares to 42 percent in July.
"Concern about exposure to COVID-19 at work continues to be more pronounced among women, Democrats, education workers and healthcare workers than it is among their counterparts," Lydia Saad, a senior editor for The Gallup Poll, wrote in the article. "These groups have consistently shown the most concern about workplace exposure throughout the pandemic, and that continues today, despite the decline in concern over time among all groups."
Gallup also found that 64 percent of employed adults said they anticipate that COVID-19 infections in the U.S. will increase in the upcoming fall and winter months.
Gallup's findings are based on an October poll of 3,700 adults, including 1,174 adults employed full or part time by an employer.