CDC recommends the use of a hierarchy of controls in health care settings to prevent infectious disease transmission. These include:
- engineering controls to reduce exposures by placing a barrier between health care personnel and the people who may be infected;
- administrative controls, such as work practices and policies to reduce or prevent exposures; and
- the use of PPE as part of a comprehensive program in compliance with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's Respiratory Protection Standard.
CDC today confirmed the 13th case of 2019-nCoV in the U.S. The patient recently returned from Wuhan, China, to California as an evacuee and was released from UC San Diego Health after testing negative for the virus. However further testing showed a positive result, and the patient was returned to the hospital from mandatory quarantine at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, along with one other individual from the base.
The World Health Organization today reported over 43,000 confirmed cases of 2019-nCoV and more than 1,000 related deaths, with the vast majority of both in China.
WHO also announced its official name for the virus COVID-19.
"We had to find a name that did not refer to a geographical location, an animal, an individual or group of people, and which is also pronounceable and related to the disease," WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said today in a press briefing. "Having a name matters to prevent the use of other names that can be inaccurate or stigmatizing."