In response to the Covid-19 pandemic, many localities instituted non-essential business closure orders, keeping individuals categorized as essential workers at the frontlines while sending their non-essential counterparts home. We examine the extent to which being designated as an essential or non-essential worker impacts one’s risk of being Covid-positive following the non-essential business closure order in Pennsylvania. We also assess the intrahousehold transmission risk experienced by their cohabiting family members and roommates. Using a difference-in-differences framework, we estimate that workers designated as essential have a 55% higher likelihood of being positive for Covid-19 than those classified as non-essential; in other words, non-essential workers experience a protective effect. While members of the health care and social assistance subsector contribute significantly to this overall effect, it is not completely driven by them. We also find evidence of intrahousehold transmission that differs in intensity by essential status. Dependents cohabiting with an essential worker have a 17% higher likelihood of being Covid-positive compared to those cohabiting with a non-essential worker. Roommates cohabiting with an essential worker experience a 38% increase in likelihood of being Covid-positive. Analysis of households with a Covid-positive member suggests that intrahousehold transmission is an important mechanism driving these effects.

为了应对Covid-19大流行，许多地区都制定了非必要的停业命令，使个人被归类为一线必不可少的工人，同时将非必要的人员送回家。我们研究了在宾夕法尼亚州的非必需业务关闭令之后，被指定为必需或非必需工人的程度对一个人成为Covid阳性风险的影响。我们还评估了他们的同居家庭成员和室友所经历的家庭内部传播风险。使用差异差异框架，我们估计被指定为基本工作的工人对Covid-19呈阳性的可能性比被归为非基本的工人高55％。换句话说，非必要的工人会起到保护作用。卫生保健和社会援助分部门的成员虽然为整体效果做出了巨大贡献，但并不是完全由他们推动的。我们还发现家庭内部传播的证据，其强度随基本状态的不同而不同。与非必需工人同居的人与非必需工人同居的被抚养人Covid阳性的可能性要高17％。与基本工作者同居的室友发生Covid阳性的可能性增加了38％。对具有Covid阳性成员的家庭的分析表明，家庭内部传播是驱动这些效应的重要机制。与非必需工人同居的人与非必需工人同居的被抚养人Covid阳性的可能性要高17％。与基本工作者同居的室友发生Covid阳性的可能性增加了38％。对具有Covid阳性成员的家庭的分析表明，家庭内部传播是驱动这些效应的重要机制。与非必需工人同居的人与非必需工人同居的被抚养人Covid阳性的可能性要高17％。与基本工作者同居的室友发生Covid阳性的可能性增加了38％。对具有Covid阳性成员的家庭的分析表明，家庭内部传播是驱动这些效应的重要机制。