I hope that everyone had a safe holiday week! I’m putting these updates into a digest form so you can see what happened last week regarding COVID information.
Updated Strategies for Optimizing the Supply of Facemasks (CDC) — This guidance has been updated to include the following:
- Added considerations for returning to conventional capacity practices
- Conventional Capacity Strategies
- Clarified healthcare personnel (HCP) use of facemasks for source control and as PPE to protect their nose and mouth from exposure to splashes, sprays, and respiratory secretions
- Contingency Capacity Strategies
- Added clarifications on extended use of facemasks as PPE
- Added clarifications on restriction on facemask use by HCP as PPE rather than by patients for source control
- Crisis Capacity Strategies
- Revised section on limited re-use paired with extended use
- Deleted the strategies of designating convalescent HCP for the provision of care of patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection, use of expedient patient isolation rooms, and mechanical headboards
Scientific Brief: Community Use of Cloth Masks to Control the Spread of SARS-CoV-2 (CDC) — CDC has issued a brief that reviews and analyzes the rapidly growing body of science supporting use of cloth masks in communities to control the spread of COVID-19.
Long-Term Care Staffing During COVID-19 (IDPH) — a 3-page document was issued to Iowa LTCFs “in response to a growing number of facilities experiencing challenges in staffing normal operations during the pandemic, the state has worked to create a workflow that can be leveraged by facilities to more effectively engage partners that can assist during an event causing a staffing shortage.”
You’ll note this on the bottom of page 2:
Resources and contact information is found on page 3.
Face Masks, Including Surgical Masks, and Respirators for COVID-19 (FDA) provides information on FDA-regulated face masks (including cloth face coverings), surgical masks, and respirators (filtering facepiece respirators, such as N95 respirators) intended for a medical purpose to assist in preventing the spread of infectious materials during the COVID-19 pandemic.
COVID-19 Vaccines (CDC) shows an update of November 25, 2020 but I’m not able to see what was specifically updated. I did spot some updated information on the ACIP Meeting Information link as well as some of the other links on the vaccines page. Additional info on COVID-19 vaccines is also found here and on this Vaccination FAQ website.
State COVID-19 Vaccination Plans are available for some specific states:
NHSN LTCF Module – new Pathway forms, templates and instructions.
Resident Impact and Facility Capacity:
- COVID-19 Resident Impact and Facility Capacity Pathway Form (November 23, 2020)
- Instructions for Completion of COVID-19 LTCF Resident Impact and Facility Capacity Form (November 23, 2020)
Staff and Personnel Impact:
- Long Term Care Facility: Staff and Personnel Impact Form (November 23, 2020)
- Instructions for Completion of COVID-19 LTCF Staff and Personnel Impact Form (November 23, 2020)
Facility Resources:
- How to Upload COVID-19 CSV Data Files (November 23, 2020)
- Resident Impact and Facility Capacity Template (Excel) (November 23, 2020)
- Staff and Personnel Impact Template (Excel) (November 23, 2020)
Group Resources:
- Guidance for use of COVID-19 Module Data by NHSN Health Department Groups (November 20, 2020)
- Groups and Supergroups – Viewing and Uploading COVID-19 CSV Data Files (November 23, 2020)
- Resident Impact and Facility Capacity Template (Excel)(November 23, 2020)
- Staff and Personnel Impact Template (Excel) (November 23, 2020)
Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDP
Clinical Consultant | Briggs Healthcare