COVID-19 as an occupational disease : enhancing social protection for at risk workers in Malta

Abstract

COVID-19 has had a great impact upon workers, particularly those working in healthcare. A relevant consideration, which is the focus of this paper, is the social protections afforded to such workers. Whilst the state introduced measures that provide affected workers with social protection, the introduced measures do not adequately cover all situations, such as when workers suffer from Long-Covid or experience other health-related complications. This commentary argues that such instances could be remedied by recognising COVID-19 as an occupational disease, thus providing affected workers with access to social measures such as Injury Leave. The paper also acknowledges that determining whether COVID-19 was occupationally transmitted or not can often be challenging and it is thus proposed that COVID-19 is automatically recognised as an occupational disease in groups of workers who are disproportionally at risk of this disease. In particular, priority should be given to healthcare workers and those working within healthcare settings.