Editor's Note The Food & Drug Administration on February 14 announced that it is an active partner in the coronavirus (COVID-19) response. It is working closely with the Department of Health and Human Services and international counterparts to help diagnose, treat, and prevent the disease as well as surveil the…

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Editor's Note AORN on February 14 released a new coronavirus (COVID-19) tool kit to support OR decision-making for the safety of healthcare workers and patients. The toolkit includes: World Health Organization updates Centers for Disease Control & Prevention updates ECRI Institute-Coronavirus Outbreak Preparedness Center resources Journal of the American Medical…

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Editor's Note The Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) on February 12 updated it personal protective equipment (PPE) recommendations for healthcare personnel. Who needs PPE? Patients with confirmed or possible COVID-19 infection should wear a facemask during medical evaluations. Healthcare personnel should adhere to standard, contact, and airborne precautions,…

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Editor's Note Long sleeved surgical jackets and bouffant head covers are neither beneficial nor cost-effective in preventing surgical site infections (SSIs), this study finds. A total of 34,042 inpatient surgical procedures performed at the University of Alabama at Birmingham Hospital were analyzed during three periods between January 2017 and October…

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Editor's Note The Food & Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Stephen Hahn says there have been no drug or medical device shortages reported in the US so far amid the coronavirus outbreak, but the situation remains fluid, the February 7 Politico reports. The FDA has pulled its inspectors from China, and…

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Editor's Note The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on February 8 updated its guidance for risk assessment and management of healthcare personnel possibly exposed in a healthcare setting to patients with the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV). The first confirmed transmission from person-to-person in the US was reported January 30,…

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Editor's Note Cardinal Health is voluntarily recalling 9.1 million potentially contaminated surgical gowns, 7.7 million of which were distributed to 2,807 facilities across the country, the January 22 Becker’s Hospital Review reports. The company took the action after learning of unsanitary environmental conditions at a plant in China that manufacturers…

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Editor's Note The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on January 21 confirmed the first case of the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) from China in the state of Washington. The patient recently returned from Wuhan, China, where an outbreak of pneumonia caused by this virus has been ongoing since…

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Editor's Note The Food & Drug Administration (FDA) on January 16 announced that Cardinal Health has alerted it customers to potential quality issues affecting some of its Level 3 surgical gowns and PreSource procedural packs that contain the gowns. Cardinal Health and the FDA recommend that customers immediately discontinue use…

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Editor's Note In this study from Israel, researchers found that surgical scrubs worn outside the OR were contaminated with a low bacterial load and only a small number of pathogenic bacteria. For the study, specimens were collected at the entrance to the OR from surgical scrubs worn by 133 surgeons.…

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