Govt tells hospitals to use N-95 masks only during aerosol procedures

New Delhi: The Delhi government has asked its hospitals and the private ones to rationalise the use of N-95 masks in non-Covid areas, with only those performing

New Delhi: The Delhi government has asked its hospitals and the private ones to rationalise the use of N-95 masks in non-Covid areas, with only those performing aerosol generating procedures using it. All others have been asked to use triple layer medical masks “which has almost equal efficacy of protection from droplet particulate matter,” reads a letter from Dr ZSK Marak, the additional director, public health–IV.

HT Image

Referencing the union health ministry guidelines on rational use of personal protective gear, the letter said, “N-95 masks need to be used only during aerosol generating procedures viz. non-invasive ventilation, tracheostomy, intubation, suction etc. All other categories of personnel, not involved in the above procedures, only need to use triple layer medical masks.”

It also said that the N-95 masks are “scarce commodity and also much more costlier as compared to triple layer medical mask”. The letter also states that the face shields may be used by frontline staff in certain areas as mentioned in guidelines of the ministry of home affairs.

The resident doctors, however, say that this is not enough.

“Ideally, everyone in the screening areas should wear N-95 masks because they are directly interacting with people suspected to have the infection. Also, when it comes to the OPDs and general wards, the patient might come to the hospital for other ailments but there is community transmission and anyone can be an asymptomatic carrier,” said Dr Kuch Sharma, member of the Covid resident task force at Lok Nayak hospital and a resident from the department of anaesthesia that treats the most critical Covid-19 patients.

Dr Srinivas Rajkumar T, a resident doctor from All India Institute of Medical Sciences who has been raising concerns about the quality of mask at the institute, said, “Even the N-95 mask is not protective against aerosolised viral particles because the pore size is bigger than the size of the viral particle. It works well against larger droplets with the virus. When it comes to the triple layer mask, it filtration efficiency is about 65% against the large droplets and it has air leaks. So, inside a hospital setting it should absolutely not be used. All healthcare workers should get at least an N-95 mask to protect against the infection.”