Healthcare Providers and Facilities

There is much to learn about COVID-19, including how easily it spreads. Based on what is currently known about COVID-19 and other coronaviruses, spread is thought to occur mostly from person-to-person via respiratory droplets among close contacts.

Close contact can occur while caring for a patient, including:

• Being within approximately 6 feet (2 meters) of a patient with COVID-19 for a prolonged period of time.
• Having direct contact with infectious secretions from a patient with COVID-19. Infectious secretions may include sputum, serum, blood, and respiratory droplets.

If close contact occurs while not wearing all recommended PPE, healthcare personnel may be at risk of infection.

Healthcare personnel caring for patients with confirmed or possible COVID-19 should adhere to CDC recommendations for infection prevention and control  (IPC):

• Assess and triage these patients with acute respiratory symptoms and risk factors for COVID-19 to minimize chances of exposure, including placing a facemask on the patient and placing them in an examination room with the door closed.
• Use Standard and Transmission-Based Precautions  when caring for patients with confirmed or possible COVID-19.
• Perform hand hygiene with alcohol-based hand rub before and after all patient contact, contact with potentially infectious material, and before putting on and upon removal of PPE, including gloves. Use soap and water if hands are visibly soiled.
• Practice how to properly don, use, and doff PPEpdf icon  in a manner to prevent self-contamination.
• Perform aerosol-generating procedures, in an AIIR, while following appropriate IPC practices, including use of appropriate PPE .

Routine cleaning and disinfection procedures are appropriate for SARS-CoV-2 in healthcare settings, including those patient-care areas in which aerosol-generating procedures are performed. Products with EPA-approved emerging viral pathogens claims are recommended for use against SARS-CoV-2. Management of laundry, food service utensils, and medical waste should also be performed in accordance with routine procedures.

If you have an unprotected exposure (i.e., not wearing recommended PPE) to a confirmed or possible COVID-19 patient, contact your supervisor or occupational health immediately.

If you develop symptoms consistent with COVID-19 (fever, cough, or difficulty breathing), do not report to work. Contact your occupational health services.

For more information, download the CDC What Healthcare Personnel Should Know fact sheet . For the most up-to-date guidance and recommendations, visit the Illinois Department of Public Health and U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention websites by clicking on the photo tiles under resources at page bottom.