• PPE Decontamination Survey: One strategy to conserve PPE is decontamination and reuse. Please take a few minutes to fill out this survey to help the State Emergency Operations Center understand current decontamination operations and identify opportunities for expansion. Deadline: 10 a.m., Thursday, April 16.

• DHS COVID-19 Health Care Providers page updated, adding utility workers to testing criteria section (includes water, sewer, gas, electric, power generation, distribution and production of raw materials; oil and biofuel refining). The Patient Information Form has been updated.

• CDC Guidelines Updated: Interim Guidelines for Collecting, Handling, and Testing Clinical Specimens from Persons for COVID-19 (Revisions on April 14)
• Clarify specimen collection procedures for all swab types and align with other respiratory disease specimen collection guidelines

• CDC Guidelines Updated: Recommendations for Patients with Suspected or Confirmed COVID-19 in Healthcare Settings (Update April 13)
• To address asymptomatic and pre-symptomatic transmission, implement source control for everyone entering a healthcare facility (e.g., healthcare personnel, patients, visitors), regardless of symptoms.
• This action is recommended to help prevent transmission from infected individuals who may or may not have symptoms of COVID-19.
• Cloth face coverings are not considered PPE because their capability to protect healthcare personnel (HCP) is unknown. Facemasks, if available, should be reserved for HCP.
• For visitors and patients, a cloth face covering may be appropriate. If a visitor or patient arrives to the healthcare facility without a cloth face covering, a facemask may be used for source control if supplies are available.
• Actively screen everyone for fever and symptoms of COVID-19 before they enter the healthcare facility.
• As community transmission intensifies within a region, healthcare facilities could consider foregoing contact tracing for exposures in a healthcare setting in favor of universal source control for HCP and screening for fever and symptoms before every shift.
• Added links to updated guidance for:
• Strategies to Optimize the Supply of PPE and other Equipment
• Interim Guidance for Discontinuation of Transmission-Based Precautions and Disposition of Hospitalized Patients with COVID-19
• Interim Guidance on Criteria for Return to Work for Healthcare Personnel with Confirmed or Suspected COVID-19
• Strategies to Mitigate Staffing Shortages

• Immunization Program VFC Updates

• DHS Webinar: Nursing Home Response to COVID-19, Thursday, April 16, 11am-12pm
• These webinars will run every Thursday until further notice. 
• Email any questions you would like addressed by 12 p.m. on the Wednesday before the webinar.
• To Join: Join Zoom Meeting / Meeting ID: 122-213-079 / Password: covid19
• Or by Phone: (312) 626-6799 / Meeting ID: 122213079# / Enter # if asked for participant ID
• The webinar will be recorded and posted to the Department of Health Services COVID-19 webpage for long-term care providers.

• COCA Webinar: Guidance for Certifying Deaths Due to COVID-19, Thursday, April 16, 1:00-2:00 p.m.

• DHS COVID-19 Webinar for Health Care Providers, Friday, April 17, 7:00-8:00 a.m.
• Click here to join the webinar.
• Or dial:  312 626 6799 or 646 558 8656 / Webinar ID: 233 994 680
• The webinar will focus on clinical management of patients with COVID-19, with an emphasis on critical care settings. Dr. Pierre Kory will review early experience related to critically ill patients and discuss emerging evidence for novel treatment strategies. 

• COCA Webinar: COVID-19 in the United States - Insights from Healthcare Systems, Friday, April 17, 1:00-2:00 p.m.