N95 masks now the norm for Alberta health-care workers as AHS and unions reach agreement

Now that health experts have formed a better understanding of how COVID-19's Omicron variant is transmitted to others, Alberta Health Services (AHS) and the unions representing health-care workers say more protection is needed.

The agreement, signed between AHS, the Alberta Union of Public Employees (AUPE), Covenant Health (CH), the Health Sciences Association of Alberta (HSAA) and the United Nurses of Alberta (UNA), has laid out new rules regarding the use of personal protective equipment (PPE) in hospitals and urgent care settings.

Among those rules is a new minimum requirement for all clinical and non-clinical health-care workers who come within two metres of a patient with "suspected, presumed or confirmed COVID-19" must wear an N95 respirator along with a gown, gloves and eye protection.

The requirement also covers health-care workers in environments "where frequent or unexpected exposure to aerosol-generated medical procedures" can occur.

It is also required when health-care workers may come in contact with multiple cases of COVID-19.

"Where there is a high density of COVID-19 patients (such as COVID-19 units), or when there is evidence of unexplained transmission (such as COVID-19 outbreaks)," AHS said in a release.

A joint statement says the rule also applies to paramedics while inside all ground and air ambulances.

N95 RECOMMENDATION NOT UNIVERSAL: HINSHAW

While certain occupations, such as health-care workers, will need to wear the higher quality masks in certain situations, Alberta's top doctor says it's not necessary for the general public to use those masks at present.

"It's really important when considering the layers of protection against COVID-19 to consider an occupational PPE requirement assessment as something that's done as a Labour Code requirement by an employer to consider all the kinds of hazards that an individual would be exposed to in the workplace and then consider what the appropriate measures would be to mitigate that," said Dr. Deena Hinshaw, Alberta's chief medical officer of health on Thursday.

She says N95 masks, tightly sealed, have negative impacts too.

"N95 masks, especially if they are used instead of other measures and kind of an attempt to see them as a 'silver bullet' will actually not be effective. High-grade medical masks with a good fit actually provide very good protection than cloth masks. The choice of masks for teachers would be different than those for a health-care provider who is caring for a suspected, probably or known COVID patient."

Hinshaw says there is no real clear benefit between a high-grade medical mask and an N95 mask in a public setting.

"If someone is wearing a well-fitting medical mask and employing all the other layers of protection, that would be a solid approach to COVID protection," she said.

AHS adds PPE has been a highly effective tool to protect the health and safety of health-care workers and it has pledged to continue to work with unions as the pandemic continues to unfold.

Additional information on PPE can be found on the AHS website.