A surgical N95 (also referred as a medical respirator) is recommended only for use by healthcare personnel (HCP) who need protection from both airborne and fluid hazards (e.g., splashes, sprays).

When practicing extended use of N95 respirators, the maximum recommended extended use period is 8–12 hours. Respirators should not be worn for multiple work shifts and should not be reused after extended use. N95 respirators should be removed (doffed) and discarded before activities such as meals and restroom breaks.

There is currently no vaccine to prevent coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The best way to prevent illness is to avoid being exposed to this virus. The virus is thought to spread mainly from person-to-person.

Regulatory standards often dictate the physical and performance properties that respirator products are required to have in order to obtain certification or approval in a particular country. Standards in different countries or regions may have slightly different requirements for certification or approval of respirators. Most regulatory standards for FFRs have similar, but not identical, test methods and respirator classes. The most commonly used respirator class descriptor is filtration efficiency. This is the ability of a respirator to filter a specific particle in a controlled laboratory test. Because of similarities in standard requirements, the following respirator classes, from various countries and regions, all have approximately 94-95% filtration efficiency, are designed to form a seal with the face, and may be considered to be functionally similar for most uses against non-oil airborne particles: • Australia/New Zealand - P2 • Brazil - FFP2 • China - KN95, KP95 • Europe - FFP2 • Japan - DS2, DL2 • India - BIS P2 • Korea - 1st class • US NIOSH - N95, R95, P95 Note that in some countries, there are different respirator performance standards for occupational-use respirators and public-use respirators. Always consult with your local authorities to see what respirators are approved in your country and what is recommended to help reduce your exposure to the airborne hazard of concern.

If a parent decides to provide a respirator to a child (such as when directed to do so by health authorities), the parent must understand that he/she will be willingly accepting several risks for their child, including but not limited to the following considerations: • A respirator must form a good seal to the face to be effective, and children’s faces may be too small to obtain a good seal on respirators that were designed for adults' faces. Every child's face is unique, and some children might have faces that are as large as some adults' faces. • It is possible that some children will not be mature enough to use a respirator correctly. • Infants and toddlers should never be given respirators due to the risk of choking and suffocation. • All respirators have certain performance features and use requirements, and it is very important that all instructions are read and understood before providing a respirator to anyone. • It is important to realize that misuse of a respirator may result in sickness or death.

In light of this new evidence, CDC recommends wearing cloth face coverings in public settings where other social distancing measures are difficult to maintain (e.g., grocery stores and pharmacies) especially in areas of significant community-based transmission.

Unexpired household bleach will be effective against coronaviruses when properly diluted. Prepare a bleach solution by mixing 5 tablespoons (1/3 cup) bleach per gallon of water.