New! ASHE Releases Effective Healthcare Facility COVID-19 Guidance

Treating patients infected with COVID-19 or suspected COVID-19 is an important role that healthcare facilities continue to play in the ongoing pandemic.

The efforts healthcare providers make to prevent the spread of this deadly, contagious virus to others within their facilities are also vital.

Since March 2020, the CDC recommended specific transmission-based isolation precautions that are still considered best practices today. Other control mechanisms addressing controls related to ventilation and physical barriers have been updated in a recent ASHE publication called Current/Updated Health Care Facilities Ventilation Controls and Guidelines for Management of Patients with Suspected or Confirmed SARS-C0V-2 (COVID-19).

The updated guidance from ASHE addresses engineering controls that healthcare organizations can implement to enhance HVAC systems and optimize the use of physical barriers. The newest guide also addresses how to control the spread of the virus through the use of airborne infection isolation rooms (AIIRs) and when patients should undergo aerosol-generating procedures (AGPs).

The ASHE document also provides information regarding:

• Appropriate air filtration and exhaust
• Consideration of how seasonal changes affect the virus such as temperature and humidity
• Use of irradiation devices and in-room air scrubbers

View and download the full set of guidelines below.