Archive for the ‘2019 Novel Coronavirus’ Category
CDC: Healthcare Supply of Personal Protective Equipment
Tuesday, February 11th, 2020https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/hcp/healthcare-supply-ppe.html
CDC continues to monitor the 2019-nCoV situation in the United States and around the world. CDC has taken early and aggressive actions to prevent the spread of 2019-nCoV in the United States, through a combination of proven public health actions. At the same time, CDC is preparing for the possibility that the 2019-nCoV situation in the US could become more serious, with sustained community transmission, and is taking steps to make sure there are enough supplies and appropriate guidance to prevent spread of disease, especially among healthcare personnel caring for patients with 2019-nCoV.
Healthcare personnel can protect themselves when caring for patients by adhering to infection prevention and control practices, which includes the appropriate use of engineering controls, administrative controls, and personal protective equipment (PPE). CDC has issued guidance recommending the use of PPE for healthcare personnel caring for patients with confirmed or possible 2019-nCoV infection. Employers and healthcare personnel are reminded that PPE is only one aspect of safe care of patients with 2019-nCoV. For the general public, CDC does not recommend the use of facemasks or respirators. CDC guidance is based on what we know about 2019-nCoV and what we know about similar coronaviruses, like SARS and MERS.
CDC also understands the importance of providing guidance that healthcare facilities can implement, given supplies of PPE available. CDC communicates regularly with healthcare industry partners, as well as PPE manufacturers and distributors, to assess availability of PPE. At this time, some partners are reporting higher than usual demand for select N95 respirators and facemasks. If information about market availability changes, updates will be posted on this page.
Based on the current 2019-nCoV situation and availability of PPE, CDC has specific recommendations, summarized below. As we learn more about 2019-nCoV and as the needs of the response or availability of PPE within U.S. healthcare facilities changes, we will update our guidance.
Who needs PPE:
Patients with confirmed or possible 2019-nCoV infection should wear a facemask when being evaluated medically.
Healthcare personnel should adhere to Standard, Contact, and Airborne Precautions, including the use of eye protection (e.g., goggles or a face shield) when caring for patients with 2019-nCoV infection. These precautions include the use of PPE, including NIOSH-approved N95 respirators, gowns, gloves, face shield/eye protection, etc. This includes, but is not limited to, surgical N95 respirators.
Who does not need PPE:
CDC does NOT currently recommend the general public use facemasks. Instead, CDC recommends following everyday preventive actions, such as washing your hands, covering your cough, and staying home when you are sick.
Manufacturers and Distributors:
Cases of 2019-nCoV are being reported in China as well as other countries. Given decreases in exports from select countries (e.g., China, India, Taiwan) and increases in demand due to the outbreak, manufacturers of select types of PPE are reporting increased volume of orders and challenges in meeting order demands. Plans to surge manufacturing globally are underway.
Strategies for Optimizing Supply of N95 Respirators
CDC offers strategies for healthcare settings on how to optimize supplies of N95 respirators in the face of decreasing supply. These strategies are organized using the occupational health and safety hierarchy of controls approach.
Frequently Asked Questions About Respirators and Their Use
CDC answers frequently asked questions about respirators and their use for healthcare personnel and the general public.
Information for Healthcare Professionals on 2019-nCoV
Tuesday, February 11th, 2020
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-nCoV/hcp/index.html
Interim U.S. Guidance for Risk Assessment and Public Health Management of Healthcare Personnel with Potential Exposure in a Healthcare Setting to Patients with 2019 Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV)
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/hcp/guidance-risk-assesment-hcp.html
Interim Guidance for Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Systems and 911 Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs) for 2019-nCoV in the United States
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/hcp/guidance-for-ems.html
Healthcare Supply of Personal Protective Equipment
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/hcp/healthcare-supply-ppe.html
National Health Commission of the People’s Republic of China: How to keep yourself safe from new coronavirus?
Monday, February 10th, 2020
National Health Commission of the People’s Republic of China: For different groups of people: how to choose masks
Monday, February 10th, 2020
1,099 patients with laboratory-confirmed 2019-nCoV ARD from 552 hospitals in 31 provinces/provincial municipalities in China
Monday, February 10th, 2020Abstract
Background: Since December 2019, acute respiratory disease (ARD) due to 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) emerged in Wuhan city and rapidly spread throughout China. We sought to delineate the clinical characteristics of these cases.
Methods: We extracted the data on 1,099 patients with laboratory-confirmed 2019-nCoV ARD from 552 hospitals in 31 provinces/provincial municipalities through January 29th, 2020.
Results: The median age was 47.0 years, and 41.90% were females. Only 1.18% of patients had a direct contact with wildlife, whereas 31.30% had been to Wuhan and 71.80% had contacted with people from Wuhan. Fever (87.9%) and cough (67.7%) were the most common symptoms. Diarrhea is uncommon. The median incubation period was 3.0 days (range, 0 to 24.0 days). On admission, ground-glass opacity was the typical radiological finding on chest computed tomography (50.00%). Significantly more severe cases were diagnosed by symptoms plus reverse-transcriptase polymerase-chain-reaction without abnormal radiological findings than non-severe cases (23.87% vs. 5.20%, P<0.001). Lymphopenia was observed in 82.1% of patients. 55 patients (5.00%) were admitted to intensive care unit and 15 (1.36%) succumbed. Severe pneumonia was independently associated with either the admission to intensive care unit, mechanical ventilation, or death in multivariate competing-risk model (sub-distribution hazards ratio, 9.80; 95% confidence interval, 4.06 to 23.67).
Conclusions: The 2019-nCoV epidemic spreads rapidly by human-to-human transmission. Normal radiologic findings are present among some patients with 2019-nCoV infection. The disease severity (including oxygen saturation, respiratory rate, blood leukocyte/lymphocyte count and chest X-ray/CT manifestations) predict poor clinical outcomes.
China’s finance ministry said on Sunday all levels of government had allocated a total of 71.85 billion yuan ($10.26 billion) as of Saturday afternoon to fight coronavirus.
Monday, February 10th, 20202019-nCoV: from the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security.
Monday, February 10th, 2020HONG KONG TIGHTENS BORDER IN RESPONSE TO STRIKES
Monday, February 3rd, 2020Hong Kong will reportedly close four additional border checkpoints as the government has received increasing pressure from the public, including healthcare providers, to tighten border controls with mainland China. In response to counter the demands to close the border entirely, Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor cited the World Health Organization’s International Health Regulations (2005) which outlines legal provisions on whether travel and borders can be restricted in the event of a health emergency.
The WHO situation report
Monday, February 3rd, 2020https://www.who.int/docs/default-source/coronaviruse/situation-reports/20200202-sitrep-13-ncov-v3.pdf?sfvrsn=195f4010_6
SITUATION IN NUMBERS total and new cases in last 24 hours
Globally 14557 confirmed (2604 new)
China 14411 confirmed (2590 new) 2110 severe (315 new) 304 deaths (45 new)
Outside of China 146 confirmed (14 new) 23 countries 1 death
