September 10th, 2020, Eir Nolsoe
Nine out of ten healthcare professionals believe there will be another coronavirus outbreak in the UK - and many anticipate it will be soon
The overwhelming majority of healthcare workers (89%) say a second COVID wave is very (46%) or fairly (44%) likely – up from 85% at the end of June.
About half (49%) said they believe it will happen within the next three months when surveyed between 18 to 23rd of August. This includes 2% who believed another outbreak will occur within a month. With cases rising at a “concerning” rate, they could be right.
Another third of healthcare professionals (36%) expect another outbreak in the next three to nine months – meaning around December to February.
Some 2% of healthcare workers said it would be in nine months or later, while only 6% don’t think there will another large-scale outbreak at all.
Half of staff are anxious they’ll contract coronavirus before end of the year
Half of healthcare workers (48%) are fairly (38%) or very (10%) worried that they will catch coronavirus in the next three months.
This figure is higher among private sector staff (56%) than NHS workers (46%). A lower number also believe their employer is prepared for another outbreak (79%) than among those employed by the NHS (87%).
As one would expect, patient-facing workers are more concerned (51%), but even among those who do not see patients over a third (36%) still worry they’ll contract the virus in the next three months.