What personal protective equipment (PPE) should I wear?

1. Patients case definitions

As reported by Zanardo et al.1, the WHO defined a suspect, probable, and confirmed COVID-19 case as follows:

Suspected case:

  • A patient with acute respiratory illness (fever and at least one sign/symptom of respiratory disease (e.g., cough, shortness of breath), and with no other aetiology that fully explains the clinical presentation and a history of travel to or residence in a country/area or territory reporting local transmission of COVID-19 disease during the 14 days prior to symptom onset;
  • A patient with any acute respiratory illness and having been in contact with a confirmed or probable COVID-19 case in the 14 days prior to onset of symptoms;
  • A patient with a severe acute respiratory infection (fever and at least one sign/symptom of respiratory disease (e.g., cough, shortness breath) and requiring hospitalization and with no other aetiology that fully explains the clinical presentation.

Probable case:

  • A suspect case for whom testing for COVID-19 is inconclusive.

Confirmed case:

  • A patient with laboratory confirmation of COVID-19 infection, irrespective of clinical signs and symptoms.

Three different conditions may be identified

  1. Patients with no respiratory symptoms
  2. Patients with suspected or confirmed COVID-19
  3. Patients with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 undergoing procedures at high risk of generating aerosol