Novel Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19): Guidelines on rational use of Personal Protective Equipment:
1. About this guideline
This guideline is for health care workers and others working in points of entries (POEs), quarantine
centers, hospital, laboratory and primary health care / community settings. The guideline uses setting
approach to guide on the type of personal protective equipment to be used in different settings.
2. Introduction
Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses, some causing illness in people and others that circulate
among animals, including camels, cats and bats. Rarely, animal coronaviruses can evolve and infect
people and then spread between people such as has been seen with MERS and SARS.
The outbreak of Novel coronavirus disease (now named COVID-19) was initially noticed from a
seafood market in Wuhan city in Hubei Province of China in mid-December, 2019, has spread to
more than 185 countries/territories worldwide including India.
The causative agent for COVID-19, earlier termed provisionally as novel Coronavirus has been
officially named as SARS-CoV-2.
3. Mode of transmission
There is clear evidence of human-to-human transmission of SARS-CoV-2. It is thought to be
transmitted mainly through respiratory droplets that get generated when people cough, sneeze, or
exhale. SARS-CoV-2 also gets transmitted by touching, by direct touch and through contaminated
surfaces or objects and then touching their own mouth, nose, or possibly their eyes. Healthcare
associated infection by SARS-CoV-2 virus has been documented among healthcare workers in many
countries.
The people most at risk of COVID-19 infection are those who are in close contact with a
suspect/confirmed COVID-19 patient or who care for such patients.
4. Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
Personal Protective Equipments (PPEs) are protective gears designed to safeguard the health of
workers by minimizing the exposure to a biological agent.
4.1 Components of PPE
Components of PPE are goggles, face-shield, mask, gloves, coverall/gowns (with or without aprons),
head cover and shoe cover.
