Nurses, researchers, and workplace safety officers worry new guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) might reduce protection against the coronavirus and other airborne pathogens in hospitals. A CDC advisory committee has been updating standards for infection control in hospitals, and a draft of its proposals released in June concluded that N95 face masks are equivalent to looser, surgical face masks in certain settings — and that doctors and nurses need to wear only surgical masks when treating patients infected by “common, endemic” viruses, like those that cause the seasonal flu. The concerned clinicians hope the committee will reconsider its report in light of additional studies and perspectives.
Zachary Mackenzie
Xavier Graduate
PPP and Political Science Major
Community Building Institute
248-639-0103