Protecting healthcare personnel and patients over 3 years of COVID-19 : Effective protection by masks and hygiene: What else was effective?

ABSTRACT

Healthcare professionals, particularly those in test centers, laboratories, or specialized COVID-19 wards, are in danger of becoming infected. Patients with special underlying health conditions are at an increased risk of getting very sick, being hospitalized, or dying from COVID-19. Age is a leading risk factor in this context. Currently, FFP2 (Filtering Facepiece 2, European standard), N95 (US standard), and KN95 (Chinese standard) face masks remain the simplest measure of protection. Coronavirus warning apps installed on smartphones have been recommended for anonymous contact tracing and quickly disrupting chains of infection. Preventive testing two to three times per week for healthcare personnel, on the day of hospital admission for patients, and upon facility entry for visitors has been routinely performed or has been requested from external test centers in most medical institutions. However, vaccination is regarded the most effective protective measure against COVID-19. The general recommendation of the World Health Organization is that countries continue to work toward vaccinating at least 70% of their populations, prioritizing the vaccination of 100% of healthcare workers and 100% of the most vulnerable groups, including people who are over 60 years of age and those who are immunocompromised or have underlying health conditions. The most vulnerable individuals among patients and healthcare workers should be identified and then their vaccination status should be checked and, if necessary, optimized by booster administration. In Germany, seasonal and institutional recommendations for individual protection by face masks, for hygiene measures, and for preventive testing must follow the updated coronavirus protection regulations (Coronavirus-Schutzverordnungen).