Editor's Note The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on May 1 announced the launch of the “SARS-CoV-2 Sequencing for Public Health Emergency Response, Epidemiology and Surveillance (SPHERES)” consortium. This network of laboratories will speed the release of SARS-CoV-2 sequence data into the public domain for use by public…

Read More

Editor's Note The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on May 1 updated its weekly surveillance summary of COVID-19 activity in the US ending April 25. Among the updates: The percentage of specimens testing positive for SARS-CoV-2 decreased at public health and commercial laboratories and remained similar at clinical labs.…

Read More

Editor's Note European regulators have approved Siemens Healthineers’ molecular Fast Track Diagnostics SARS-CoV-2 Assay, which has 100% specificity and sensitivity. The new assay uses real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to detect ribonucleic acid (RNA) from this virus. The company plans to ship more than 1.3 million tests per month worldwide…

Read More

Editor's Note The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) on April 24 issued interim guidance on the reuse and decontamination of N95 and other filtering-facepiece respirators during the COVID-19 pandemic. OSHA notes that the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has identified research that suggests the following methods…

Read More

Editor's Note The Joint Commission on April 23 announced that it supports the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s new recommendations that healthcare facilities “. . . implement source control for everyone entering a healthcare facility (eg, healthcare personnel, patients, visitors), regardless of symptoms . . .” Source control involves…

Read More

Health systems nationwide are examining policies and procedures related to their resources, staffing, and scheduling to prepare for anticipated patient surges due to COVID-19. In late March, I talked with perioperative physicians and administrators from two health systems with rapid increases in COVID-positive cases, which have prompted significant changes in…

Read More

Editor's Note The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on April 14 released a Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report on the characteristics of healthcare workers (HCW) with COVID-19 in the US. From February 12 to April 9, 2020, there were 9,282 cases of COVID-19 reported among HCWs. The median…

Read More

Editor's Note The Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) announced April 3 that it is modifying existing surveillance systems to track COVID-19 and will be posting weekly reports each Friday. The report, “COVIDView,” summarizes and interprets key indicators, including information related to COVID-19 outpatient visits, emergency department visits, hospitalizations,…

Read More

Editor's Note The Centers for Disease Control & Prevention on March 17 updated its strategies for optimizing personal protective equipment (PPE) supplies, including facemasks. The strategies are based on surge capacity and include: *Conventional capacity: Patient care is provided without any change in daily practices. Use facemasks according to product…

Read More

Editor's Note This first preliminary description of outcomes in COVID-19 patients in the US between February 12 and March 16, 2020, indicates that fatalities were: 10% to 27% in patients aged 85 or more 3% to 11% in patients aged 65-84 years 1% to 3% in patients aged 55-64 years…

Read More