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Study looks at place of death for patients with COVID-19

Patients who died from COVID in 2020 were almost 12 times more likely to die in a medical facility than patients who died from any cause in 2018, reports a new Northwestern Medicine study.

13 Jul 2020

Next showdown in Congress: Protecting workers vs. protecting employers in the pandemic

Congressional leaders are squaring off over the next pandemic relief bill in a debate over whom Congress should step up to protect: front-line workers seeking more safeguards from the ravages of COVID-19 or beleaguered employers seeking relief from lawsuits.

13 Jul 2020

Aerosol boxes increase healthcare workers' exposure to COVID-19

A new study shows that certain aerosol boxes of a similar type to those that have been manufactured and used in hospitals in the UK and around the world in order to protect healthcare workers from COVID-19 can actually increase exposure to airborne particles that carry the virus, and thus casts doubt on their usefulness.

12 Jul 2020

What people know and how they behave during COVID-19: Canadian perspective

Now, a new study by researchers in Canada and published on the preprint server medRxiv in July 2020 shows that national news is the primary source of information about the pandemic.

10 Jul 2020

Cloth face coverings, masks are effective in reducing the spread of COVID-19, study says

Cloth face coverings, even homemade masks made with the correct material, are effective in reducing the spread of COVID-19 - for the wearer and those around them - according to a new study published today from Oxford’s Leverhulme Centre for Demographic Science.

9 Jul 2020

Ozone gas can provide a safe means to disinfect personal protective equipment

A new study shows that ozone gas, a highly reactive chemical composed of three oxygen atoms, could provide a safe means for disinfecting certain types of personal protective equipment that are in high demand for shielding health care personnel from Covid-19.

9 Jul 2020

$50 million NIST funding to support U.S. manufacturers in their response to COVID-19

The U.S. Department of Commerce's National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has awarded a total of $50 million in emergency funding to support U.S. manufacturers in their response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

8 Jul 2020

Brigham experts develop reusable N95 mask alternative

With N95 masks in short supply, a team of bioengineers and clinical experts from Brigham and Women's Hospital and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has been developing a new, sustainable solution for health care workers to provide protection during the pandemic.

8 Jul 2020

Manchester expert backs new multidisciplinary task force to combat pandemics

A world-leading materials expert from The University of Manchester is helping to launch a new global task force to drive innovation in digital health to combat pandemics like COVID-19 - and ambitious outputs could eventually include building 'smart cities' that feature anti-virus defenses.

7 Jul 2020

How facemasks protect against COVID-19

The “new normal” is a way of living that helps prevent contracting the novel coronavirus. These include practices such as wearing masks in public places and staying at least six feet from each other. The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the virus that causes the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), can be transmitted via respiratory droplets when a person sneezes, coughs, or talks.

7 Jul 2020

PPE shortages linked to spread of Covid-19 inside care homes

The spread of Covid-19 inside care homes has been fueled by a lack of personal protection equipment – according to new research from the University of East Anglia.

3 Jul 2020

Silk useful as face mask and PPE in COVID-19

As many people are resorting to face coverings improvised from common fabrics, researchers from the University of Cincinnati looked to determine what fabrics were the most effective. The team examined the hydrophobicity of fabrics (silk, cotton, polyester), as measured by their resistance to the penetration of small and aerosolized water droplets, an important transmission avenue for the virus causing COVID-19.

30 Jun 2020

Large-scale analysis of COVID-19 risk among different groups of UK hospital staff

Staff who shared a household with an infected person were at the greatest risk of infection, and those working in COVID-19-facing areas were also at an increased risk. Other groups that were identified as a high risk included Black and Asian individuals, porters, and cleaners.

30 Jun 2020

Workers filed more than 4,100 complaints about protective gear. Some still died.

COVID-19 cases were climbing at Michigan's McLaren Flint hospital. So Roger Liddell, 64, who procured supplies for the hospital, asked for an N95 respirator for his own protection, since his work brought him into the same room as COVID-positive patients.

30 Jun 2020

Identification of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in healthcare HVAC units

Now, a new study published on the preprint server medRxiv* in June 2020 reports that viral RNA has been found to occur in HVAC (Heating, Ventilation, and AC) units in healthcare facilities. However, it is not clear if this represents a possible mechanism of viral transmission.

30 Jun 2020

Tiny wireless sensors could enable easier, more accurate decontamination of protective masks

Tiny wireless sensors for recycled N95 masks could verify, in real time, whether the respirators are being exposed to proper decontamination conditions.

25 Jun 2020

New approach to address the shortage of personal protective equipment

Due to the rapid spread of COVID-19, there is an increasing shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE) crucial to protecting health care workers from infection.

25 Jun 2020

Study provides an overview of personal protective equipment in health care settings

An article in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) provides an overview on personal protective equipment (PPE) in health care settings, including evidence on effectiveness of N95 masks, as well as the importance of including health care worker perspectives on usage of this equipment.

25 Jun 2020

New approaches to manage Canada's national emergency stockpile system

To manage Canada's emergency stockpile of medical supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE), the government could consider several approaches, including a "prime-vendor" model selling directly to health care organizations to minimize financial and equipment waste, according to an article in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal)

25 Jun 2020

New findings provide a glimpse of daunting experiences faced by hospitals in fight against COVID-19

Healthcare epidemiologists report using unprecedented methods in response to the unique circumstances resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the results of a new study published today in Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology, the journal of the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA).

24 Jun 2020

PPE News and Research

Study looks at place of death for patients with COVID-19

Next showdown in Congress: Protecting workers vs. protecting employers in the pandemic

Aerosol boxes increase healthcare workers' exposure to COVID-19

What people know and how they behave during COVID-19: Canadian perspective

Cloth face coverings, masks are effective in reducing the spread of COVID-19, study says

Ozone gas can provide a safe means to disinfect personal protective equipment

$50 million NIST funding to support U.S. manufacturers in their response to COVID-19

Brigham experts develop reusable N95 mask alternative

Manchester expert backs new multidisciplinary task force to combat pandemics

How facemasks protect against COVID-19

PPE shortages linked to spread of Covid-19 inside care homes

Silk useful as face mask and PPE in COVID-19

Large-scale analysis of COVID-19 risk among different groups of UK hospital staff

Workers filed more than 4,100 complaints about protective gear. Some still died.

Identification of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in healthcare HVAC units

Tiny wireless sensors could enable easier, more accurate decontamination of protective masks

New approach to address the shortage of personal protective equipment

Study provides an overview of personal protective equipment in health care settings

New approaches to manage Canada's national emergency stockpile system

New findings provide a glimpse of daunting experiences faced by hospitals in fight against COVID-19

Bringing real-time analytics to downstream bioprocess monitoring

Designing fluidic architecture for scalable diagnostic platforms

Evaluating new approaches for rare disease genomics

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