The Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions warns that the federal public health agency’s guidelines to protect the frontline healthcare workers from the outbreak of diseases such as COVID-19 are not enough and put them and patients at risk.
The standards, which have been updated by the Public Health Agency of Canada, indicated the precautions that the healthcare workers must observe when assessing and managing a patient with a possible case of COVID-19, including the protective equipment must be used. The public health agency has updated the guidelines as they learn more about the disease that has affected many people all over the globe.
Nurses, doctors, and other medical staff who are exposed to the patients must be properly protected, not only for their own health but to prevent the potential spread of the virus.
It should be stressed out that if the healthcare workers are not protected, the patients are also at risk.
The Ontario government released its guidelines calling for continuous use of disposable respirators when interacting with a potential coronavirus patient, while the federal guidelines require only a surgical mask unless certain medical procedures are being carried out.
The federal protocols are in line with the WHO, but the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and its European counterpart have also suggested higher standards and a greater degree of precaution.
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https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-sick/cloth-face-cover.html
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/types-of-face-mask
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/downloads/cloth-face-coverings-information.pdf