World leaders in infection control and disease prevention are calling for global infection control reform in hospitals and aged care facilities in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis.

Presenting at the inaugural iClean 2020 conference, keynote speaker Professor Didier Pittet, chair, Clean Hospitals, director of the Infection Control Programme and World Health Organisation (WHO) Collaborating Centre on Patient Safety at the University of Geneva Hospitals,  aid there has never been a more pertinent time to address infection control in our healthcare systems.

“During this devastating COVID-19 pandemic, up to one-in-five people who contracted the virus globally are healthcare workers,^1-3 and we saw similar numbers in the SARs and MERS outbreaks.⁴

“Furthermore, aged care residents accounted for 29 per cent of COVID-19-related deaths in Australia, and this rate is even higher in Europe, the United States and the United Kingdom, who have been hardest hit by the pandemic,”⁵ said Pittet.

“We are therefore calling for urgent reform in our approach to cleaning and disinfection in hospitals and aged care homes. Through the ‘Clean Hospitals’ initiative, we hope to create better procedures, training, auditing and management processes, that will allow cleaning and infection control managers around the world to improve quality and outcomes,” said Pittet.

Also presenting at the iClean 2020 conference, hosted by Interclean Managed Services and supported by Clean Hospitals, Dr Ruth Carrico, professor and family nurse practitioner in the division of infectious diseases, and clinical director of the Global Health Center Vaccine and International Travel at the University of Louisville School of Medicine, USA.

“Reforming hospital and aged care disinfection systems can not only help to continue to manage COVID-19, but also reduce the incidence of other hospital and aged care facility-acquired infections,” said Dr Carrico.

“We need to look at hospitals and aged care facilities as a ‘patient’ that requires a cohesive and interdependent team to care for it. While in some ways, the COVID-19 pandemic has revealed flaws in the way we control infection, it has also provided an opportunity for us to reform these systems to better manage future outbreaks.”

According to system director of EVS, Safety & Security at Northside Hospital, Atlanta, Fiona Nemetz, providing comprehensive education and training to environmental services teams is just as critical as providing these services for healthcare workers.

“Ensuring that all teams that make up the hospital infection control system are armed with the knowledge and tools to continue to effectively do their job will help to reassure both workers and the public that the hospital is a safe place to be,” said Nemetz.

According to Bill Bassett, Interclean group managing director, “Insights from digital cleaning data and advances in our understanding of disinfection has led to significant changes in the way we can plan, monitor, adapt and implement cleaning processes.

“By improving/facilitating access to the latest innovations in cleaning systems, equipment and technology, and fostering international collaboration, we hope to arm hospitals and aged care facilities with the necessary tools to safeguard patients, residents and employees against future outbreaks,” he said.

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1. Remuzzi, A. and G. Remuzzi, COVID-19 and Italy: what next? The Lancet, 2020. 395(10231): p. 1225-1228.

2. Kaiser Health News & The Guardian. Lost on the Frontline. 2020 [cited 2020 May]; Available from: https://khn.org/news/lost-on-the-frontline-health-care-worker-death-toll-covid19-coronavirus/.

3.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Characteristics of Health Care Personnel with COVID-19 – United States, February 12-April 9, 2020. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly report (MMWR), 2020. 69, 477-481 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm6915e6external.

4.Liu, S., et al., Comparative Epidemiology of Human Infections with Middle East Respiratory Syndrome and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronaviruses among Healthcare Personnel. PLoS One, 2016. 11(3): p. e0149988.

5.Comas-Herrera, A., et al. Mortality associated with COVID-19 outbreaks in care homes: early international evidence. 2020 [cited 2020 May]; Available from: https://ltccovid.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Mortality-associated-with-COVID-21-May-6.pdf.