Table 1.

Advantages and disadvantages of current devices used during testing of COVID-19 patients

Feature	Advantage	Disadvantage
South Korean “phone booth”	Negative pressure environment contains aerosols and airborne particles generated by patient	Intensive sanitisation required between patients for reusable parts eg, semi-permanent gloves
	Virtually zero contact between operator and patient	Power source/generator required to maintain negative pressure environment; difficult to adapt for community/field use
Plastic shield with circular arm holes	Easily manufactured, reproducible, portable	No light source
		Plastic must be able to withstand high-level disinfection or be prone to degradation
		Limited protection for HCW whose limbs and hands must be enclosed in separate PPE
PPE alone / with added plastic face shield	Highly portable, versatile to any clinical situation	Resource-intensive if single-use per patient

HCW – health care worker, PPE – personal protective equipment