COVID-19 Risk Assessment Among Vulnerable Small Business Owners in El Paso County, Texas.

Abstract

Our objective was to deliver actionable, worksite-specific COVID-19 risk assessments and mitigation strategies tailored to vulnerable workers in one of the highest-risk areas in the US. Four trained, bilingual (English/Spanish) community health workers (CHWs) recruited small businesses (ie, ≤20 employees) across various industries and executed novel on-site infectious disease risk assessment surveys of at least one employer and one employee. Of 102 participating businesses (95% Hispanic-owned), 96% were characterized as "high risk" or "very high risk" for disease transmission. All businesses reported implementing at least one practice to reduce disease transmission; however, almost half of businesses lacked at least 13 of the 17 controls identified to mitigate risk. Tailored, culturally sensitive outreach led by CHWs identified and educated businesses on critical hazards, and these methods may be transferable to similar communities.