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. 2020 Oct 8:8:577499.
doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2020.577499. eCollection 2020.

Protecting Healthcare Workers Amid the COVID-19 Crisis: A Safety Protocol in Wuhan

Affiliations

Protecting Healthcare Workers Amid the COVID-19 Crisis: A Safety Protocol in Wuhan

Yunlu Liu et al. Front Public Health. .

Erratum in

Abstract

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), which is caused by a distinct coronavirus, is an acute infectious disease that spreads mainly via the respiratory route. During the COVID-19 outbreak, many healthcare systems faced a severe burden when a large number of healthcare workers (HCWs) became infected due to the lack of adequate protection. Consequently, it was apparent that it is important to ensure the health and safety of HCWs in order to control the outbreak throughout society. In this article, we share our successful protocol for protecting the safety of HCWs in the course of their daily work in an orthopedics department with the aim of eventually reducing the risk of nosocomial infection. None of our HCWs or their families contracted the infection during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; Wuhan; healthcare workers; protocol.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Conceptual scheme of workplace protection for healthcare workers (HCWs). The green arrows show the direction of movement of the HCWs; the red arrows show the direction of movement of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients. The entrances to all rooms were marked with specific signs warning the HCWs to move in the right direction. Patients testing positive for COVID-19 were directed to the quarantine ward where they were placed in individual isolation rooms for further treatment. The clean area comprised the office where the medical staff worked, and measures were taken to prevent the virus from entering this area. The disinfection room was the place where the HCWs disinfected their personal belongings (cell phone, watch, and so on) and performed hand hygiene. The preparation room was the place where the HCWs dressed in appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE). The negative pressure operating room was designated for the surgical treatment of COVID-19 patients, and it is an effective measure to control the source of infection and block the route of transmission.
Figure 2
Figure 2
The order of removing personal protective equipment.

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