Q&A: Preparation Paid Off When COVID-19 Struck

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Fibi Attia, MD, the infection prevention coordinator at Penn State Milton S. Hersey Medical Center, says that the main challenge for infection preventionists in the COVID-19 pandemic is not knowing who might be carrying the disease.

Having drilled for a pandemic and having put in place a pandemic plan helped hospital staff and the infection control and prevention department a lot when the real thing struck in the form or COVID-19, says Fibi Attia, MD, the infection prevention coordinator at Penn State Milton S. Hersey Medical Center. Attia, who is also a member of Infection Control Today®’s Editorial Advisory Board, says that before the COVID-19 pandemic, making sure that hospital staff followed standard precautions represented the main challenge for infection preventionists. After COVID-19, the main challenge was treating patients with the knowledge that they could be carriers of the coronavirus. And limiting exposure of healthcare workers to COVID-19 remains a constant concern.

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Brenna Doran PhD, MA, hospital epidemiology and infection prevention for the University of California, San Francisco, and a coach and consultant of infection prevention; Jessica Swain, MBA, MLT, director of infection prevention and control for Dartmouth Health in Lebanon, New Hampshire; and Shanina Knighton, associate professor at Case Western Reserve University School of Nursing and senior nurse scientist at MetroHealth System in Cleveland, Ohio
 Brenna Doran PhD, MA, hospital epidemiology and infection prevention for the University of California, San Francisco, and a coach and consultant of infection prevention; Jessica Swain, MBA, MLT, director of infection prevention and control for Dartmouth Health in Lebanon, New Hampshire; and Shanina Knighton, associate professor at Case Western Reserve University School of Nursing and senior nurse scientist at MetroHealth System in Cleveland, Ohio
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