Data released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has revealed that optometrists and dispensing opticians are among the professions most at risk of exposure to disease in the UK.
ONS explained that there was a clear correlation between exposure to disease and physical proximity to others across all occupations, with data from 2019 based on US analysis.
Using the old nomenclature of 'ophthalmic optician', the ONS said there were 17,800 optometrists in the UK. Of this figure, 54% were female, 27% were black, Asian and minority ethnic, and 21% were aged 55 and over.
Optometrists ranked 17th out of 359 jobs for exposure to disease and ranked 9th for closeness to other people, plotted midway between arm’s length and touching on a weekly basis.
There were 8,720 dispensing opticians in the UK, of which 62% were female, 28% were aged over 55, and 15% were black, Asian and minority ethnic.
Dispensing opticians ranked 49th for exposure and 31st for closeness, plotted just above arm’s length and just below a monthly basis.