Dataset from Keeping Rural Minority 'Essential' Workplaces Open Safely During the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Role of Frequent Point-of-care Molecular Workplace Surveillance for Miners (Short Title: The Miners' Pandemic Project)

Background: The purpose of this study was to address the limited evidence on how SARS-CoV-2 spread among rural essential workers and to develop strategies that helped keep rural essential workplaces, such as coal mines, open during the pandemic. Miners represented a high-risk population because they were rural essential workers who were susceptible and vulnerable to COVID-19 and were predominantly racial and ethnic minorities in New Mexico. The study aimed to provide proof-of-principle that frequent point-of-care molecular testing could function as an effective workplace surveillance tool to monitor and prevent SARS-CoV-2 transmission. The central hypothesis was that frequent workplace molecular surveillance would reduce infection rates and identify novel host risk factors among miners.

Materials/Methods: The study used a longitudinal workplace surveillance approach at a surface mine in McKinley County, New Mexico, located near the Navajo Nation and composed of 66 percent minority miners. Miners at the intervention site provided nasal swabs every alternate work shift, which were analyzed using the Abbott ID Now COVID-19 test as the index test. A control mine with similar characteristics located in Campbell County, Wyoming, was used for comparison. Study aims included determining acceptance of frequent testing, assessing the ability of point-of-care molecular surveillance to detect SARS-CoV-2 in a real-world mining environment, and evaluating both the effectiveness and implementation costs of surveillance over six months. Additional data on miner characteristics, mine dust exposures, face-covering practices outside work, respiratory conditions, and racial or ethnic background were collected to examine predictive host factors associated with incident infection.

Outcome/Impact: The study findings showed how routine molecular testing could contribute to reducing incident SARS-CoV-2 infection rates and identifying risk factors specific to miners. These results carried important implications for developing pandemic response strategies that kept rural essential workplaces operational. The study generated data that supported future research on vaccine interventions for rural minority essential workers.