CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19) RESOURCES
(April 9 – 15, 2021)
FDA Releases Recommendations on Decontaminated Disposable Respirators
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) released a letter to health care personnel and facilities (“health care providers”) regarding the use of decontaminated disposable respirators. Based on an increased domestic supply of National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (“NIOSH”) approved respirators, the FDA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are now recommending that health care providers transition away from crisis capacity conservation strategies, which include the decontamination or bioburden reduction of disposable respirators for reuse. More specifically, the FDA is recommending that health care providers: (i) limit decontamination of disposable respirators to certain situations; (ii) transition away from a crisis capacity strategy for respirators; and (iii) increase their inventory of available NIOSH-approved respirators. The FDA’s letter can be found here.