National Nurses United Response To Covid-19
About the Novel Coronavirus (Covid-19) Outbreak
In December 2019, a newly identified coronavirus, known as Covid-19, emerged in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China causing illness in humans.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services declared the virus to be a nationwide health emergency following the World Health Organization’s (WHO) declaration of a public health emergency of international concern on January 30, 2020.
On January 21, 2020, China announced for the first time that health care workers have been infected- at least fourteen by recent counts. In recent days, dozens of U.S. health care workers have been exposed due to their employer’s lack of protections.
Health care workers need your help in the fight against Covid-19.
Click below to call for safer facilities, more PPE, and thank nurses for all that they do.
National Nurses United is providing online Continuing Education
classes and workshops on issues related to Covid-19.
SARS-CoV-2 spreads easily from person to person. Overwhelming scientific evidence points to aerosol transmission as the significant and predominant mode. Aerosols, which are particles suspended in air, can be emitted by an infected person through breathing, talking, singing, coughing, and sneezing.[1] Asymptomatic individuals, for instance, can spread infectious SARS-CoV-2 aerosols during breathing and speaking, without coughing or other respiratory symptoms. Aerosols can also be generated during medical procedures such as intubation and bronchoscopy.
Respiratory particles vary in size; larger aerosol particles can remain suspended in the air for several minutes, while smaller or lighter ones can linger in the air for hours and travel through the room and ventilation systems. Perfume spray or cigarette smoke demonstrates the extent of aerosol plume distribution as it can be smelled from a distance for quite some time as the particles disperse throughout the room.
Studies about SARS-CoV-2 satisfy the criteria for classifying an infectious disease as airborne – the virus must be transmitted via aerosol particles less than 5 µm in diameter and be capable of causing infection. A recent study has found that SARS-CoV-2 can survive and remain infectious for at least 16 hours suspended in aerosols.[2] Researchers have also recovered infectious SARS-CoV-2 in the air from hospital rooms with Covid-19 patients, collected at nearly 16 feet away. Airborne SARS-CoV-2 particles were less than 5 µm in diameter and were detected in the absence of a cough or aerosol generating procedures.[3,4]
[1] Jones, R.M. and L.M. Brosseau, Aerosol transmission of infectious disease. Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 2015. 57(5): p. 501-8.
[2] Fears, Alyssa C. et al., Persistence of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 in Aerosol Suspensions, Emerging Infectious Diseases, 2020;26(9):2168-2171.
[3] Santarpia et al., The Infectious Nature of Patient-Generated SARS-CoV-2 Aerosol, medRxiv, 2020.
[4] Lednicky et al., Viable SARS-CoV-2 in the air of a hospital room with Covid-19 patients. International Journal of Infectious Diseases, 2020.
Droplet vs. Airborne:
How is SARS-CoV-2 Transmitted?
Beginning in March 2020, many hospitals and other healthcare employers have turned to decontaminating single-use N95 respirators to be reused multiple times, given reports of PPE shortages. Several states have now begun reopening but have not taken substantial action to increase PPE production. Instead states and employers are relying on potentially dangerous decontamination methods. NNU has evaluated the available evidence on decontamination methods and determined NO METHOD IS BOTH SAFE AND EFFECTIVE. Please click on the following link to find out more about these unsafe and unproven methods.
- National Nurses United announced today that areas of the country which have loosened shelter-in-place measures must close again and work harder, along with the federal government, to contain Covid-19 and protect public health. Nurses say the recent all-time high in positive cases and hospitalizations in many locations across the country underscores their demand. Read more
Press Release (June 2, 2020) - Nurses Join Forces Nationally to Warn Against Early Reopening
- As Covid-19 cases continue to climb in the United States, unions representing 230,000 nurses across the country have joined forces to demand hospitals and the government follow strict guidelines before any further reopening measures are taken. Read more
World Health Organization (WHO)’s Dashboard
The situation is evolving rapidly. Please visit the World Health Organization's Dashboard for the most up-to-date information.
Statements and Letters To Officials
- October 6, 2020 - Letter to CDC on Transmission, PPE, and Testing
- October 2, 2020 - Nurses urge all people in the United States to stay safe and vigilant
- September 28, 2020 - New report reveals widespread government failure to track and report data on Covid-19 deaths, testing, and infections
- September 22, 2020 - National Nurses United registered nurse members report ongoing denials of access to Covid-19 testing
- September 3, 2020 - Nurses Raise Caution Flag on COVID-19 Vaccine Push