Quebec could run out of key medical supplies needed to fight COVID-19 in 3 to 7 days, premier warns

[Shiloh]

Source: https://montreal.ctvnews.ca/quebec-...vid-19-in-3-to-7-days-premier-warns-1.4875986

Quebec could run out of key medical supplies needed to fight COVID-19 in 3 to 7 days, premier warns
Basem Boshra
Supervising Producer, CTV News Montreal
Published Tuesday, March 31, 2020 1:03PM EDT Last Updated Tuesday, March 31, 2020 1:37PM EDT

MONTREAL -- Quebec could run out of key medical supplies in three to seven days, Quebec Premier Francois Legault said Tuesday afternoon.

Legault said the shortage of medical supplies such as N95 masks, which are key in the fight by health-care workers against the spread of COVID-19, is the province's top priority at the moment.

Healt Minister Danielle McCann said that supplies of masks are so low in Quebec right now that health-care workers have been asked to disinfect and re-use their masks as needed.

Legault thanked Ontario Premier Doug Ford for agreeing to send medical supplies to Quebec from his province. A first shipment medical supplies, including the N95 surgical masks, from Ontario to Quebec was expected Tuesday, Legault said...

 

[kiwibird]

https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/sites/def...2020-03-26.pdf

Because of severe shortages of respirators and surgical masks in the COVID-19 pandemic, a number of methods could be considered for the sterilisation of used masks, mostly respirators. Steam sterilisation is a routinely used procedure in hospitals. Mask deformation or failing fit test after steam sterilisation at 134 ?C has been reported in a study performed in the Netherlands, depending on the type of FFP2 mask used [4]. Steam sterilisation at lower temperatures is under study. One study commissioned by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) showed that hydrogen peroxide vapour (HPV) was effective in decontaminating N95 respirators from a single organism for multiple cycles of decontamination. The respirator maintained its function even after 10–20 cycles of HPV, but showed signs of degradation after this. A pilot study in the Netherlands indicated that the method is effective for two decontamination cycles without deformation while retaining filtration capacity as assessed by a rapid fit test1 , suggesting that the tested FFP2 masks (models without cellulose) can be re-used up to two times. A possible caveat of this method is that harmful concentrations of hydrogen peroxide may remain on the mask for days after decontamination. Another concern is that more decontamination cycles can lead to deformation. Also, filtration has not been assessed adequately [4].