Table 1.

Examples of elements under the three pillars of infection prevention and control in the healthcare setting.

Element	Pillar	Examples
I. Policy and procedure
	Governance	• Committee/department  ∘ Multidisciplinary  ∘ Reporting directly to highest level of leadership  ∘ Defined authority and accountability
	Policy and practices	• Management of employee database for ease of contact tracing  ∘ Serology status to blood borne pathogens  ∘ Immunization status  ∘ Respiratory fit testing status  ∘ Latent TB status • Hand hygiene • Standard precautions • Extended precautions • Policy  ∘ Outbreak management  ∘ Isolation and barrier precautions  ∘ Aseptic technique  ∘ Cleaning, disinfection and sterilization  ∘ Supplies and their reuse • Contact tracing • Surveillance and data management
II. Facility and human resources
	The infection control team	• Trained and experienced infection control officers and hospital epidemiologists • Infection preventionists, 1/100 acute care beds and 1/200 non-acute care beds
	Respiratory triage areas	• Early recognition of and separation of patients with respiratory illness from those with no respiratory illness • Establishing isolation facilities where patients with respiratory illness can be evaluated and treated separately from those with no respiratory illness
	Inpatient facility	• Single bedded rooms are preferred • Cohort policies when single bedded rooms not available • Running clean water sinks, soap, should be available • Alcohol-based hand hygiene rub or gel be as a hand hygiene solution
	Negative pressure rooms (NPRs)	• NPRs are necessary for airborne isolation • The facility has the ability to expand on NPRs if needed. Incase of surge of respiratory illness patients • NPRs should be regularly monitored according to policy
	Single bedded isolation rooms	• For droplet and contact isolation
	Consumables related to IPC practices	• Personal protective equipment (PPE) should always be available:  ∘ Masks  ∘ Gowns  ∘ Water proof gowns  ∘ Gloves  ∘ Goggles/face shields • Soap • Hand hygiene dispensers and alcohol-based hand rub
	CSSD facility	• Policies in place to assure evidence-based cleaning, disinfection and sterilization of equipment • Consider no-touch technologies to enhance cleaning • Abandon reuse of single-use items without a clear policy
III. Behavior, accountability and leadership
	Education	• Monthly, quarterly, annual • Hands-on, practice-based training • Online training
	Competency evaluation	• Certified competency evaluation as part of the educational processes
	Example setting	• Visible leadership presence • Leaders as role models
	Rewarding of exemplary performance	• Setting an accountability hierarchy

HH: hand hygiene, ABHR: alcohol-based hand rubs.