Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19)
COVID 19
APIC Resources and Tools
APIC provides a number of pertinent documents related to Coronavirus.
Downloadable Documents
IPC Acuity Scale for Crisis Situations Tool
APIC’s IPC Acuity Scale for Crisis Situations was created to complement your facility’s risk assessment, help prioritize patient safety, and signal to leadership the need for temporary workload adjustments that allow IPs to focus on their specialized expertise, optimizing safety and organizational outcomes
UV-C N95 Decontamination Guidance Document
This resource provides detailed guidance from APIC and N95DECON on using UV-C technology to safely decontaminate N95 respirators during crisis-level supply shortages. It outlines infection prevention considerations, PPE requirements, workflow steps, and implementation practices
Infection Prevention for Ambulatory Care Centers During Disasters
This document provides infection prevention guidance for ambulatory care settings during disasters, outlining strategies for triage, PPE, staffing, environmental controls, and coordination with public health to prevent disease transmission
A Call to Action on Improving our National Strategy for Pandemic Preparedness and Patient Safety Whitepaper
This whitepaper is a call to action on improving the National strategy for pandemic preparedness and patient safety
Extending the Use and/or Reusing Respiratory Protection in Healthcare Settings During Disasters Position Paper
This document provides APIC’s position on extending the use and reusing of respiratory protection in healthcare settings during disasters.
APIC has media-rich resources available on the topic of Coronavirus
Webinars and Podcasts
COVID-19 Webinar
APIC conducted a webinar on 3/17/2020 for IPs to better understand the rapidly evolving disease
What you need to know about the Coronavirus Podcast Episode
This episode of APIC’s 5 Second Rule Podcast was recorded on March 4, 2020, covering what you need to know about the Coronavirus
Click Here to Access the APIC Text – Chapter 73: Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19)
- Chapter 73 of the APIC Text provides comprehensive guidance for an infection preventionist on COVID-19
About Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19)
- COVID-19 is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), an enveloped, positive-sense RNA coronavirus
- Multiple variants have circulated since 2020
- Current evidence supports a zoonotic origin, with coronaviruses closely related to SARS-CoV-2 circulating in bats. Some species have also been infected, but humans remain the primary source of transmission
- Primarily via respiratory particles and aerosols during close contact, which can also be transmitted via shared air in poorly ventilated spaces
- Transmission from contaminated surfaces is possible, but minimal
- Follow CDC SARS-CoV-2 infection-control guidance for patient placement, transmission-based precautions, and exposure management
- Incubation Period: 2 to 14 days; with Omicron-lineage variants, often 3-5 days
- Illness ranges from asymptomatic/mild upper-respiratory disease to severe pneumonia, respiratory failure, sepsis, immunocompromise, pregnancy, and certain comorbidities
- Post-acute sequelae (“Long COVID”) can follow even mild disease
- First identified in late 2019
- WHO declared an international public health emergency in January 2020
Additional External Resources
- CDC – Project Firstline
- CDC – Understanding the Difference between Surgical Masks and N95 Respirators
- CDC – Strategies for Conserving the Supply of Medical Masks
- CDC – PPE Use and Removal during COVID-19 Factsheet
- CDC – Health Alert Network (HAN)
- EPA – About List N: Disinfectants for Coronavirus (COVID-19)
- PBS – Understanding Flatting the Curve Chart Video
- PBS – How Well Do Masks Work Video
- WHO – COVID-19