Islamabad: The federal government recently released detailed guidelines on using protective gear against the coronavirus infection, a news source reported. As per the publication, in order to ensure public safety, the executive prepared this framework in collaboration with the National Command & Operation Centre (NCOC) and the National Institute of Health (NIH).
The said guidelines pertain to the use of masks and personal
protection equipment (PPE) kits for safety against the coronavirus infection. An
NCOC official stated that the government was making all efforts to deliver these
guidelines on using
protective gear to all doctors, paramedical health staff, and all other individuals
connected with coronavirus patients.
The official revealed that the government had issued the guidelines
for awareness, and to ensure the proper use of protective gear at the concerned
places and at the suitable time by health professionals and workers. He added
that hospitals and laboratories would display these instructions as charts for
others interested in learning more about these preventive measures.
The NCOC official said that the protective gear used against the coronavirus infection included six basic things. These were medical masks or N95 masks, body gowns, gloves, Tyvek suits, shoe covers, and eye protection equipment. He added that the guidelines issued cover all possible areas requiring protection. These included administrative areas, patient rooms, patient transit areas like wards and corridors, consultation room, waiting room, triage, home, screening areas, public areas, ambulances or transfer vehicles, temporary isolation areas, and sampling areas. The guidelines also direct to frequently wash hands and follow respiratory hygiene despite the PPE kits, the official said.
The government’s issued guidelines on using protective gear
include the following instructions:
Discarding PPE in appropriate waste container
after use
Proper hand hygiene before wearing PPE and after
taking it off
Restricted number of visitors to rooms of
COVID-19 patients
If visitors are to enter, they should be
properly instructed on wearing and removing PPE, along with before and after
hand hygiene
Healthcare workers must supervise visitors
Use of no-touch thermometers, thermal imaging cameras,
limited observation, and questioning — all while maintaining a spatial distance
of at least one metre
Training of all rapid response team members for
wearing and removing PPE, and performing hand hygiene to avoid self-contamination
All transports concerned to follow proper bio-safety
and bio-security protocols
The guidelines add that all disposable PPE must be treated as highly infectious waste after use, and to be labelled as COVID-19 waste before being incinerated.
