Table 3.

Practical points to be considered during extended use/limited reuse of (N-95)

Discard N-95 respirators following aerosol generating procedures

Discard N-95 respirators contaminated with blood or respiratory secretions

Consider use of a cleanable face shield over an N-95 respirator

Hang used respirators in a designated storage area or keep them in a clean, breathable properly labeled container such as a paper bag between uses

Follow the employer’s maximum number of donning (or up to five if the manufacturer does not provide a recommendation)

Discard any respirator that is obviously damaged or becomes hard to breathe through

Another practical strategy is to issue five respirators to each HCW caring for COVID-19 patients with advice to wear 1 respirator each day and store it in a breathable paper bag at the end of each shift. The order of respirator use should be repeated with a minimum of 5 days between each respirator use

Source: CDC (NIOSH recommendations). HCW: Health care workers, COVID: Coronavirus disease, CDC: Centers for disease control and Prevention, NIOSH: National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health