Lesson learned from China regarding use of personal protective equipment

In Wuhan, China, in December 2019, the novel coronavirus was detected. The virus causing COVID-19 was related to a coronavirus named severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV). The virus caused an epidemic in China and was quickly contained in 2003. Although coming from the same family of viruses and sharing certain transmissibility factors, the local health institutions in China had no experience with this new virus, subsequently named SARS-CoV-2.

Based on their prior experience with the 2003 SARS epidemic, health authorities in China recognized the need for personal protective equipment (PPE). Existing PPE and protocols were limited and reflected early experience with SARS; however, as additional PPE supplies became available, designated COVID-19 hospitals in Hubei Province adopted the World Health Organization guidelines for Ebola to create a protocol specific for treating patients with COVID-19.

This article describes the PPE and protocol for its safe and effective deployment and the implementation of designated hospital units for COVID-19 patients. To date, only 2 nurses working in China who contracted SARS-CoV-2 have died from COVID-19 in the early period of the epidemic (February 11 and 14, 2020).

The lessons learned by health care workers in China are shared in the hope of preventing future occupational exposure.