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Improved understanding of the overall distribution of work-place coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreaks by industry sector could help direct targeted public health action. In this report, the Utah Department of Health (UDOH) analyzed COVID-19 surveillance data to describe workplace outbreaks by industry sectors.

The racial and ethnic disparities in workplace outbreak-associated COVID-19 cases found in Utah and identified in meat processing facility outbreaks in other states demonstrate a disproportionate risk for COVID-19. These disparities might be driven, in part, by longstanding health and social inequities, resulting in the overrepresentation of Hispanic and nonwhite workers in frontline occupations where the risk for SARS-CoV-2 exposure might be higher than that associated with remote or nondirect–service work.

This paper also reports that Hispanic and nonwhite workers have less flexible work schedules and fewer telework options compared with white and non-Hispanic workers. Lack of job flexibility, lack of telework options, and unpaid or punitive sick leave policies might prevent workers from staying home and seeking care when ill, resulting in more workplace exposures, delayed treatment, and more severe COVID-19 outcomes.

The report concludes that care must be taken to ensure that prevention and mitigation strategies are applied equitably and effectively using culturally and linguistically responsive materials, media, and messages to workers of racial and ethnic minority groups disproportionately affected by COVID-19.