- Viral infection
- COVID-19
The worker was employed as a Support Assistant. She noted that on March 23, 2022 she fell ill, and days later she tested positive for COVID-19. In denying the worker's appeal, the ARO found that "the nature of the worker's employment did not create a significantly greater risk of contracting the disease than someone in the public at large". The issue under appeal was whether the worker should be granted initial entitlement for a COVID-19 infection.
The Panel denied the appeal.The Panel found that the worker's workplace did not make a significant contribution to her diagnosed COVID-19 infection. The Panel noted several factors. Although the worker believed she caught the COVID-19 infection from one of her co-workers, there was no evidence to support that any of the worker's co-workers also contracted COVID-19 in and around the time the worker contracted it. The worker did not have to interact with the public while performing her job. Her exposure to infection would have been greater during off-work periods (including attending the grocery store) than when she was at work. As the worker worked part-time at 20 hours per week, she would have spent relatively much more time outside of work, than at work, on a weekly basis. Further, mask-wearing precautions would not have eliminated the risk of contracting the infection outside her workplace. The Panel found that the evidence for and against the worker's claim was not approximately equal in weight and, as such, she was not entitled to the statutory benefit of doubt.