Table I.
Summary of recommendations for persons working in healthcare settings
| Casual contact – no patient care | Care for non-COVID-19 patients | Care for suspected or confirmed COVID-19 patients | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Precautions | Social distancing | Standard precautions: hand hygiene, respiratory hygiene, sharps safety, environmental & equipment safety, safe injections, PPE, occupational safety, social distancing∗ | Standard precautions, contact precautions & droplet precautions |
| Patient management | Patient to wear face covering | Patient to wear face covering (as per local policies) | Patient placed in isolation/single room or as far away from others as possible (and at least 2m within the UK) Patient to wear fluid resistant surgical face mask when in contact with others |
| PPE if no contact with body fluids | |||
| Face protection | Face covering | Fluid resistant surgical face mask | Fluid resistant surgical face mask type |
| Gloves | None | None | Single use, double gloving not necessary |
| Clothes/body protection | Bare below elbow | Bare below elbow | Bare below elbow, apron tied at neck and waist |
| Eye protection | None | None | Face shield |
| Head protection | None | None | None |
| Foot/shoe protection | None | None | None |
| PPE if in contact with body fluids | |||
| Face protection | n/a | Fluid resistant surgical face mask | Fluid resistant surgical face mask |
| Gloves | Single use, double gloving not necessary | Single use, double gloving not necessary | |
| Clothes/body protection | Bare below elbow, apron (if risk of contamination) tied at neck and waist | Bare below elbow, apron (if risk of contamination) tied at neck and waist | |
| Eye protection | Face shield (if risk of splashes) | Face shield (if risk of splashes) | |
| Head protection | None | None | |
| Foot/shoe protection | None | None | |
| PPE if AGPs performed | |||
| Face protection | n/a | Filtering respiration mask FFP3 | Filtering respiration mask FFP3 |
| Gloves | Single use, covering the cuffs of the gown | Single use, covering the cuffs of the gown | |
| Clothes/body protection | Long sleeved gown | Long sleeved gown | |
| Eye protection | Goggles | Goggles | |
| Head protection | None | None | |
| Foot/shoe protection | None | None | |
∗
Note: social distancing is now a part of standard precautions.