Aide-memoire for a strategy to protect health workers from infection with bloodborne viruses

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) was first detected in Wuhan city, China in December 2019. On 30 January 2020, the WHO Director General declared that the current outbreak constituted a Public Health Emergency of International Concern.

Current available evidence is that the COVID-19 virus is transmitted between people through close contact and droplets. People most at risk of infection are those who are in contact with a COVID-19 patient and/or who care for COVID-19 patients. This inevitably places health workers at a high risk of infection.

Target audience:

This tool is to be used by health care facilities that have either cared for or admitted COVID-19 patients. This form is to be completed for all health workers who have been exposed to a confirmed COVID-19 patient in a health care facility. It is intended to be an operational tool used by health care facilities once a COVID-19 patient has been identified within the facility. This tool will help determine the risk of COVID-19 virus infection of all HCWs who have been exposed to a COVID-19 patient and then provides recommendations for appropriate management of these HCWs, according to their infection risk.

Objectives:

1. To determine the risk categorization of each HCW after exposure to a COVID-19 patient (see below Part 1: COVID-19 virus exposure risk assessment form for HCWs);

2. To inform the management of the exposed HCWs based on risk (see below Part 2: Management of health worker exposed to COVID-19 virus).