When we think workers' compensation, we think of falling on the job, maybe breaking a bone. However, along with injuries, workers' compensation also covers illness.
Of the hundreds of workers' compensation claims related to COVID-19 in this state, roughly 83% are from frontline workers — those who work in patient care. Numbers from the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries show that of the 806 COVID-19 related claims, 673 were from those on the frontlines: 636 from healthcare workers, 37 from first-responders.
Tim Church, a spokesperson from L&I, says that the people behind these numbers aren't necessarily all licensed workers such as doctors and nurses. The total includes workers who also clean patients' rooms.
Not all the claims were from workers who contracted the virus, Church said.