Hospital Infection Control & Prevention – May 1, 2020
May 1, 2020
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Personal Protective Equipment Shortage Is ‘Simply Unacceptable’
Two different national surveys have found widespread shortages of personal protective equipment and other critical hospital supplies as the United States battles the highest number of COVID-19 cases in the world.
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The Forecast Calls for Pain
There is the proverbial glass half-full or half-empty — and then there is the cold shot of despair that comes with considering how much of the planet COVID-19 has yet to hit.
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COVID-19 Response: From Panic to Complacency
Even as the COVID-19 pandemic virus rages in some areas of the United States, there has been marked complacency in others, where public health pleas to stay at home and practice social distancing have been ignored by some.
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C. difficile Infections Decrease in Hospitals, But Increase in Community
Clostridioides difficile infections are declining in U.S. hospitals, as measures over the last decade to reign in antibiotic use and improve infection control appear to be working.
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OSHA Tells Inspectors to Use Discretion in Enforcing Respirator Fit-Testing
Responding to respirator shortages during the outbreak of novel coronavirus, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration has issued a memorandum allowing enforcement discretion” by compliance officers citing the Respiratory Protection standard (29 CFR § 1910.134).
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Scientists Warn Pandemic May Not Decline in Warmer Weather
Seasonal influenza and common human coronaviruses typically fall off in warmer seasons, as heat and humidity diminish transmission sharply. There has been some hope that this will happen with COVID-19, giving the United States a summer respite against a relentlessly accelerating pandemic.