� Rapidly triage patients who are identified as being at risk for
COVID-19 (those with symptoms of lower respiratory illness,
traveled from a high risk area, or were in contact with an
infected person).
• Cover their nose and mouth with a mask if not already done.
• Place them in an airborne infection isolation room (AIIR) if
available. AIIRs should be reserved for patients with
COVID-19 undergoing aerosol-generating procedures and for
other patients with airborne disease (e.g. tuberculosis,
measles, and varicella).
• Inform infection control personnel and local and state public
health authorities. Have numbers at hand to facilitate prompt
communication.
� Use Standard Precautions, assuming that every patient is
potentially infected or colonized with a potentially transmissible
pathogen.
• Perform hand hygiene with alcohol-based hand scrub before
and after all patient contact and before donning and doffing PPE.
• Use soap and water for a 20-second wash if hands are
visibly soiled.
� Use Airborne Precautions
• Use respiratory protection (i.e., a respirator) that is at least as
protective as a fit-tested NIOSH-certified disposable N95
filtering facepiece respirator before performing any aerosolgenerating
procedures. All healthcare personnel must be
fit-tested to ensure a good fit. (NIOSH).
� Use Contact Precautions
• Use gloves and a clean isolation gown before entering the
room. Discard disposable gowns and gloves after each use and
launder cloth gowns.
• Protect your eyes from accidental touching or droplets by
wearing a face shield. If goggles are used, they must be
cleaned and disinfected after each use according to the
manufacturer’s instructions.
• Cohort patients with COVID-19.
• Limit the number of staff providing care to COVID-19 patients.
� If hospitalization is required, transfer to a facility with an AIIR.
AIIRs should be prioritized for patients who require aerosolgenerating
procedures. Additional infection control strategies
related to use of an AIIR include the following:
• Keep doors closed and minimize entry and exit. Personnel
should always wear appropriate PPE, ensuring proper donning
and taking care during PPE removal to avoid self or surface
contamination. Once in the AIIR, the patient’s face mask may
be removed but they should wear a facemask if transport to
another department or hospital is required.
• Keep a log of all persons entering the AIIR and limit healthcare
personnel to minimize transmission risk.
• After a patient is discharged from an AIIR, ensure that any
personnel entering the room don appropriate PPE because
it is not yet known how long the virus remains infectious in
the air.
� All visitors should be monitored, managed, restricted, and
trained. Because of asymptomatic or pre-symptomatic
transmission, source control must be implemented for everyone
entering a healthcare facility, regardless of their symptoms. This
includes healthcare personnel, patients, and visitors. Source
control involves the following:
• Visitors and patients should wear cloth masks. A facemask
may be used if available.
• Anyone entering the facility should be screened for fever
and symptoms.
� Discontinuation of transmission-based precautions must be
determined in collaboration with the local, state, and federal
health authorities on a case-by-case basis.
� For persons with COVID-19 who are under isolation at home
because it is both medically and socially appropriate, isolation
can be discontinued if:
• It has been at least 3 days (72 hours) since they had a fever
(without the use of fever-reducing medications), AND
• They have an improvement in respiratory symptoms, AND
• It has been 10 days since symptoms first appeared OR they
have negative test results from at least 2 consecutive
respiratory specimens taken at least 24 hours apart.
� It can take up to 14 days to develop the illness if you have been
exposed to COVID-19, so the CDC recommends 14 days of
quarantine after exposure.
AS WITH ANY EMERGING
INFECTION, MAKE SURE THAT
YOU BECOME FAMILIAR WITH THE
RESOURCES AVAILABLE ON THE CDC
WEBSITE. THE CDC UPDATES
INFORMATION THERE AS THEY LEARN
IT SO CHECKING IN DAILY AND
SETTING UP AN EMAIL NOTIFICATION
FOR UPDATES IS STRONGLY
RECOMMENDED.