CDC issued a “Situational Update” stating: “The supply and availability of NIOSH-approved respirators have increased significantly over the last several months. Healthcare facilities should not be using crisis capacity strategies at this time and should promptly resume conventional practices”.
SPICE, DHSR, and NCDPH, in partnership, agree that conventional strategies are ideal and should be resumed as soon as possible but recognize it may not be feasible in every facility, based on the number of residents on precautions and the supply of NIOSH-approved N95s at the present time.
We also agree that facilities should not arbitrarily decide they cannot resume conventional strategies but rather objectively base their decision on N95 supply and the number of residents on precautions. As a measure to assist facilities, SPICE is providing a
“COVID-19 Use of N95 as PPE Risk Assessment and Response Tool” that can be used to document that process.
Once the initial assessment is completed, facilities should re-evaluate their status on a routine basis (every two weeks).
Please contact Evelyn Cook if you have questions.
Evelyn Cook, Associate Director
Statewide Program for Infection Control and Epidemiology (SPICE)
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Phone: (919) 966-1304
Fax: (919) 843-9979
