PPE and training are key to COVID-19 prevention for health care workers

Despite being at high risk of exposure to covid-19, frontline healthcare professionals who were appropriately protected did not contract infection or develop protective immunity against the virus, finds a study from China published by The BMJ today.

The researchers acknowledge that the healthcare professionals were working away from home, so had limited social interactions after work, which probably contributed to the absence of infection.

But they say this does not affect their conclusion that appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) is effective in preventing infection in healthcare professionals who work in highly exposed environments.

As such, they say healthcare systems "must give priority to the procurement and distribution of personal protective equipment, and provide adequate training to healthcare professionals in its use."