The frontline healthcare workers (HCWs) are at risk for contracting the COVID-19 disease when caring for patients and providing aerosol-generating procedures. Until further high-quality studies generate robust evidence, defining the precise nosocomial transmission risk associated with AGMPs, along with CDC’s recommended PPE guidelines, we propose additional respiratory protective measures that could reduce the nosocomial transmission of COVID-19 diseases to HCWs providing respiratory interventions.

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is an emerging viral infection that is rapidly spreading across the globe. SARS-CoV-2 belongs to the same coronavirus class that caused respiratory illnesses such as severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS).

During the SARS and MERS outbreaks, many frontline healthcare workers were infected when performing high-risk aerosol-generating medical procedures as well as when providing basic patient care. Similarly, COVID-19 disease has been reported to infect healthcare workers at a rate of ~ 3% of cases treated in the USA.

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