The growing severity of the COVID-19 pandemic and challenges in the supply chain have resulted in severe shortages of N95 masks and reports of frequent mask reuse. This practice poses serious safety risks to healthcare workers. To help decision-makers develop back-up procedures that are as safe as possible, researchers from Harvard, Stanford, MIT, UC Berkeley, and other institutions teamed up to evaluate existing N95 decontamination methods and plot a practical course forward for implementing them.
The consortium issued a report detailing the strengths, weaknesses, and gaps in application of three methods: heat, ultraviolet light (UVC), and vaporized hydrogen peroxide (VHP) treatment. The report can be found on the consortium website, n95decon.org. Harvard’s coalition of the willing is led by John Doyle, Henry B. Silsbee Professor of Physics and co-director of the Harvard Quantum Initiative...
Continute reading "Mask decontamination methods: Strengths, weaknesses, gaps" in The Harvard Gazette, Apr 3, 2020.