QuickStats: Percentage* of Employed Adults Who Needed to Work Closer Than 6 Feet from Other Persons All or Most of the Time at Their Main Job,† by Occupation§ — National Health Interview Survey, United States, July–December 2020¶
Weekly / December 10, 2021 / 70(49);1718
* With 95% CIs indicated by error bars.
† Based on responses to the question, “Currently, at your main job or business, how often do you need to work closer than 6 feet to other people? Would you say all of the time, most of the time, some of the time, or none of the time?” This question was asked of all respondents who said that they were working the week before the survey.
§ Respondents who reported working more than one job were asked to identify the occupation of their main job. These occupations were categorized by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics 2018 Standard Occupational Classification two-digit codes (https://www.bls.gov/soc/2018/major_groups.htmexternal icon). Only occupations above the overall average (30.7%) are reported.
¶ Estimates are based on household interviews of a sample of the civilian, noninstitutionalized U.S. population. Questions on social distancing at work were asked during July–December 2020.
During July–December 2020, 30.7% of all currently employed workers needed to work closer than 6 ft (2 m) from other persons at their job all or most of the time. The four occupations with the highest percentages were health care practitioners and technicians (70.5%), health care support (69.7%), food preparation and serving (58.9%), and personal care and service (57.8%) occupations.
Source: National Health Interview Survey, 2020. https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nhis/2020nhis.htm
Reported by: Abay Asfaw, PhD, AAsfaw@cdc.gov, 202-245-0635; Tim Bushnell, PhD; Toni Alterman, PhD; Regina Pana-Cryan, PhD.
Suggested citation for this article: QuickStats: Percentage of Employed Adults Who Needed to Work Closer Than 6 Feet from Other Persons All or Most of the Time at Their Main Job, by Occupation — National Health Interview Survey, United States, July–December 2020. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2021;70:1718. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm7049a7external icon.
For more information on this topic, CDC recommends the following link: https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/emres/2019_ncov_default.html
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