Editor's Note The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) on April 24 issued interim guidance on the reuse and decontamination of N95 and other filtering-facepiece respirators during the COVID-19 pandemic. OSHA notes that the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has identified research that suggests the following methods…

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Editor's Note In this study from BJC HealthCare and Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, a multidisciplinary team that included surgeons created a new process for disinfecting and reusing N95 masks, using vaporized hydrogen peroxide. The process allows healthcare workers (HCW) to reuse masks up to 20 cycles, and…

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Editor's Note An artificial intelligence (AI) tool that analyzes CT scans of the chest was 75% accurate in determining COVID-19 patients who required ventilators, the April Radiology Business reports. Researchers at Cleveland’s Case Western Reserve University built the tool using scans and datasets from the web, COVID-19 chest images from…

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Editor's Note: A research team led by the University of Singapore has developed an artificial intelligence (AI) platform called, “IDentif.AI” (Indentifying Infectious Disease Combination Therapy with Artificial Intelligence) to increase efficiency in the development of treatments that combine several different drugs. The researchers selected 12 drugs that are viable candidates…

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Editor's Note: Epic’s deterioration index, an artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning-based system that can predict which patients with COVID-19 could become seriously ill, has been put into use at hospitals nationwide, the April 24 STAT reports. Though normally hospitals would take weeks or months to test a new tool on…

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Editor's Note Israel-based Scentech Medical and Meir Medical Center will start a trial of Scentech’s breath technology, which is designed to detect COVID-19 before it becomes symptomatic, the April 22 Times of Israel reports. The breath test technology—similar to breathalyzers used on suspected drunk drivers—is a mix of software and…

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When the coronavirus pandemic begins to subside, hospital leaders will be sorting out the repercussions and trying to resume normal operations. The main impact on ORs has been the widespread cancellation of non-essential procedures. Case cancellations in March and April have reduced elective procedure volumes as much as 90%. Most…

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Editor's Note In this study from the Houston Methodist Research Institute, immediate-use steam sterilization (IUSS) using a Steris Amsco Evolution HC1500 PreVac Steam Sterilizer autoclave was performed on N95 masks. Masks were wrapped in paper-plastic sterilization peel pouches (Medical Action Industries 8” role, Ref 422R). A chemical indicator and biological…

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Editor' Note The American College of Surgeons (ACS) on April 17 released a new document, “Local Resumption of Elective Surgery Guidance,” to help healthcare facilities prepare to resume elective surgery once COVID-19 has peaked in their area. The document includes four categories: COVID Awareness—addresses the community’s COVID-19 numbers, including prevalence,…

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Editor's Note Among the actions announced April 15 by the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) in response to the COVID-19 pandemic are: Issuance of two new emergency use authorizations (EUAs) for serology tests, to detect for presence of coronavirus antibodies, to Ortho-Clinical Diagnostics, Inc, and Chembio Diagnostic systems, Inc. Issuance…

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