LAUSR

COVID-19 is a disease caused primarily by the SARS-CoV-2 virus aerosols entering the respiratory system. Quantitative fit-testing of filtering face-piece respirators is a primary and validated means for protecting workers who are often in constant and close proximity to each other, as well as the patients or public they encounter in their work duties. Healthcare workers are especially at the highest risk levels not only during medical procedures such as tracheal intubation and direct delivery of medication to the lungs via nebulizers, but also from exposure during the treatment and care of patients in acute care and retirement homes. At the request of the Head Unit for Infection Prevention and Control of South Africa’s largest health care administrative area, Western Cape Province, Sedulitas implemented a train-the-trainer programme in quantitative fit-testing. As a result, several thousand health-care workers were fit tested from the onset of the programme in April 2022. Mr Jacobs will discuss the process and results of this innovative programme combining the expertise of the medical and the OEHS professions.