Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2020 Apr;14(2):229-231.
doi: 10.1007/s11684-020-0765-x. Epub 2020 Mar 23.

Protecting healthcare personnel from 2019-nCoV infection risks: lessons and suggestions

Zhiruo Zhang  1 , Shelan Liu  2 , Mi Xiang  1 , Shijian Li  3 , Dahai Zhao  4 , Chaolin Huang  5 , Saijuan Chen  6
Affiliations

Protecting healthcare personnel from 2019-nCoV infection risks: lessons and suggestions

Zhiruo Zhang et al. Front Med. 2020 Apr.

Abstract

The outbreak of a novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19, caused by the 2019-nCoV infection) in December 2019 is one of the most severe public health emergencies since the founding of People's Republic of China in 1949. Healthcare personnel (HCP) nationwide are facing heavy workloads and high risk of infection, especially those who care for patients in Hubei Province. Sadly, as of February 20, 2020, over two thousand COVID-19 cases are confirmed among HCP from 476 hospitals nationwide, with nearly 90% of them from Hubei Province. Based on literature search and interviews with some HCP working at Wuhan, capital city of Hubei, we have summarized some of the effective measures taken to reduce infection among HCP, and also made suggestions for improving occupational safety during an infectious disease outbreak. The experience and lessons learned should be a valuable asset for international health community to contain the ongoing COVID-19 epidemic around the world.

Keywords: COVID-19; healthcare personnel; infectious diseases.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Zhiruo Zhang, Shelan Liu, Mi Xiang, Shijian Li, Dahai Zhao, Chaolin Huang, and Saijuan Chen declare no conflicts of interest. This manuscript is a commentary and does not involve a research protocol requiring approval by the relevant institutional review board or ethics committee.

References

    1. National Health Commission of the People’s Republic of China. The latest situation of novel coronavirus pneumonia. March 1, 2020. http://www.nhc.gov.cn/xcs/yqtb/202003/5819f3e13ff6413-ba05fdb45b55b66ba.... (in Chinese) (accessed March 2, 2020)
    1. WHO. Report of the WHO-China Joint Mission on Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). 2020. https://www.who.int/docs/default-source/coronaviruse/who-china-joint-mis... (accessed February 28, 2020)
    1. National Health Commission of the People’s Republic of China. Notification for further strengthening the protection of health personnel during 2019-nCoV outbreak. February 19, 2020. http://www.nhc.gov.cn/xcs/zhengcwj/202002/75c6e88ecbeb42a9a26ac-b538383e... (in Chinese) (accessed February 19, 2020)
    1. The State Council Press Conference of the Joint Prevention and Control Mechanism of the State Council. February 20, 2020. https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/shefela5N9U06-6cKEIJZg (in Chinese) (accessed February 20, 2020)
    1. Information Office of Hubei Provincial People’s Government. Press Conference on Prevention and Control of New Coronavirus Infected Pneumonia. February 22, 2020. http://www.hubei.gov.cn/hbfb/xwfbh/202002/t20200222_2145525.shtml (in Chinese) (accessed February 23, 2020).