Jan 20th, 2022 - In the UK, the biggest news of the week is that it looks as if Omicron numbers are finally going down, meaning that the wave has now peaked. Hospital numbers, which were doubling every 9 days 2 weeks ago, have now stabilised. Due to this, the Government is ending Plan B, and returning to Plan A, which means that mandatory certifications will end and people can stop working from home. Mask weari...

Jan 20th, 2022 - NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - The rate of contamination of surfaces in rooms with hospitalized COVID-19 patients is low, researchers report. Of the 347 individual samples collected from the rooms of 20 patients infected with SARS-CoV-2, less than 6% were positive via RT-PCR and only one demonstrated cytopathic effect (CPE), researchers report in Clinical Infectious Diseases. "The presence of SARS...

Jan 15th, 2022 - Covid-19: Government's use of VIP lane for awarding PPE contracts was unlawful, says judge.|2022|Dyer C,|

Jan 14th, 2022 - To quantify (by number and mass) single use plastic waste generated from the provision of oral healthcare in primary and secondary care clinical dental settings in the UK. An observational study of four dental practices and the clinics of a UK undergraduate dental teaching hospital was conducted. A range of routine common procedures were observed by trained and calibrated observers; these were:...

Jan 13th, 2022 - WASHINGTON -- The Biden administration will make more high-quality masks available for free beginning next week as part of its strategy to stem the increasing tide of COVID-19 cases, President Biden said Thursday. "We have helped make sure that high-quality masks are widely available and [in] ample supply at affordable prices ... but for some Americans a mask is not always affordable or conveni...

Jan 13th, 2022 - Nursing home (NH) residents, especially those who were Black or with dementia, had the highest infection rates during the COVID-19 pandemic. A 9-week COVID-19 infection control intervention in 360 Massachusetts NHs showed adherence to an infection control checklist with proper personal protective equipment (PPE) use and cohorting was associated with declines in weekly infection rates. NHs were ...

Jan 13th, 2022 - This study explored Frontline Health Workers' (FLWs) knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) on COVID-19 and their lived experiences, in both their personal and work lives, at the early stage of the pandemic in Bangladesh. This was a qualitative study conducted through telephone interviews in May 2020. A total of 41 FLWs including physicians, nurses, paramedics, community healthcare workers and ...

Jan 13th, 2022 - Doctors have welcomed a ruling by the High Court that the Government's operation of a so-called 'VIP fast track' for awarding personal protective equipment (PPE) contracts worth almost £600 million was unlawful. A 'high priority lane' for procurement was set up at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic during a rush to secure PPE supplies. Rules allowing contracts to be awarded without competition ...

Jan 13th, 2022 - Nurses' leaders described the latest figures for NHS staff in England who were absent because of COVID-19 as "troublingly high", despite indications that the situation might be easing. Overall, 40,031 staff at acute hospital trusts were absent due to SARS-CoV-2 on January 9, an increase of 2.3% a week previously, NHS England data showed. However, the data suggests that absences because of COVID...

Jan 13th, 2022 - Editor's note: Find the latest COVID-19 news and guidance in Medscape's Coronavirus Resource Center. The Cleveland Clinic in Weston, Florida, on Jan. 11 was treating 80 covid-19 patients — a tenfold increase since late December. Nearly half were admitted for other medical reasons. The surge driven by the extremely infectious omicron variant helped push the South Florida hospital with 206 licens...

Jan 12th, 2022 - (1) Background: The COVID-19 pandemic forced healthcare workers to adapt to challenges in both patient care and self-protection. Dental practitioners were confronted with a potentially high possibility of infection transmission due to aerosol-generating procedures. This study aims to present data on healthcare worker (HCW) screening, infection status of HCWs, pre-interventional testing, the use...

Jan 12th, 2022 - Endotracheal intubation (ETI) is still the gold standard of airway management, but in cases of sudden cardiac arrest in patients with suspected SARS-CoV-2 infection, ETI is associated with risks for both the patient and the medical personnel. We hypothesized that the Vie Scope® is more useful for endotracheal intubation of suspected or confirmed COVID-19 cardiac arrest patients than the convent...

Jan 9th, 2022 - The COVID-19 pandemic forced hospital organisation and healthcare professionals to prepare for large quantities of patients in isolation rooms. In situ simulation may seem promising in order to manage the organisational changes that the pandemic require. This study aims to investigate in situ simulations influence on healthcare professional's self-perceived preparedness to face the pandemic. A ...

Jan 6th, 2022 - Most documented studies have focused on mental health status of health care workers during the pandemic but there are very few studies, focusing on mitigation of mental health problems among nurses. To study psychosocial responses to COVID-19 and the effectiveness of intervention among nurses. A mixed-method study was conducted, including 278 nurses from two COVID-19 hospitals of the province b...

Jan 6th, 2022 - Editor's note: Find the latest COVID-19 news and guidance in Medscape's Coronavirus Resource Center. As I walked off the jet bridge into Hong Kong International Airport, I stepped into another world. I was home for Christmas, to see my parents for the first time in two years. But first, I had to get through a gantlet of COVID-19 precautions that envelop the city like a protective bubble. Incomi...

Jan 3rd, 2022 - Masumi Ueda, MD, MA When the first case of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was diagnosed in Washington on January 20, 2020 clinicians at Seattle Cancer Care Alliance (SCCA) decided to act expeditiously and unhesitatingly to minimize disease spread. Unbeknownst at the time, Seattle would quickly become one of the first epicenters of COVID-19. Masumi Ueda, MD, MA, assistant medical director...

Jan 1st, 2022 - The COVID-19 pandemic created unprecedented strain on the personal protective equipment (PPE) supply chain. Given the dearth of PPE and consequences for transmission, GetMePPE Chicago (GMPC) developed a PPE allocation framework and system, distributing 886 900 units to 274 institutions from March 2020 to July 2021 to address PPE needs. As the pandemic evolved, GMPC made difficult decisions abou...

Jan 1st, 2022 - Research is needed to facilitate better understanding of how different groups have been impacted by COVID-19, especially those in already strained service systems such as foster care. These inquiries will support further response, recovery and preparedness efforts. This qualitative study addressed how professionals and caregivers in foster care described being affected by COVID-19 in order to s...

Dec 31st, 2021 - Investigate healthcare providers, caregivers, and patient perspectives on tracheostomy care barriers during COVID-19. Cross-sectional anonymous survey SETTING: Global Tracheostomy Collaborative Learning Community METHODS: A 17-item questionnaire was electronically distributed, assessing demographic and occupational data; challenges in ten domains of tracheostomy care; and perceptions regarding ...

Dec 28th, 2021 - This study assessed, using a self-reported questionnaire, the adherence to PPE (mask, gowns, and gloves) at the workplace, as well as to non-pharmacological preventive measures (NPPM) (physical distance defined as hardly ever and/or never approaches other people within 1.5 meters, social isolation as leaving home less than once a week, hand hygiene was defined as performing hand hygiene ≥ 6 tim...