COVID-19: Effect on Availability of Masks for Healthcare Practitioners

ABSTRACT

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has stated that the time period between exposure to COVID-19 and the appearance of symptoms, called the incubation period, is estimated to be between two and 14 days.3 The CDC also stated that the median time from exposure to onset of symptoms is four-five days.4 Testing for the virus was a challenging issue in the early stages of the pandemic which contributed to rapid spread of the virus. In March 2020, World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stated, "The chronic global shortage of personal protective equipment is now one of the most urgent threats to our collective ability to save lives. Research has shown that COVID-19 is predominantly transmitted through respiratory droplets meaning transmission can take place within close proximity (<2 meters) of an infected person through a cough or sneeze.6 As time has progressed from the onset of the virus, the CDC has established and published recommendations to healthcare facilities regarding aerosol-generating procedures such as extubation, mechanical ventilation, suctioning, bag-mask ventilation (BMV), and chest compressions which the risk of airborne transmission.7 A respiratory droplet is a droplet particle >5-10 qm in diameter, while anything less than 5 qm in diameter refers to a droplet nuclei.3 The measurement of a droplet particle is a determining factor as to whether a particular mask provides protection against the spread of the virus via the airway (mouth and nose).