Curating the Evidence on Role of Personal Protective Equipment in COVID-19: A Review of Scientific Publications and Social Media Recommendations

This study aims to review Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) recommendations from scientific literature and social media sites for the general public and Health Care Professionals (HCPs) to provide effective infection control against COVID-19. A search was conducted on PubMed, WHO database, Semantic Scholar, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, YouTube and Google. A total of 44 studies and 131 social media sites were included in the final analysis. Scientific literature suggested that HCPs caring for COVID-19 patients use a combination of disposable work hats, protective masks and clothing, disposable latex gloves and shoe covers while those caring for suspected COVID-19 patients, require N95 respirators. Cloth face masks were the most commonly discussed PPE for the general community. Decontamination, reuse strategies as well as PPE alternatives were discussed primarily in social media posts. This study combines data from social media and scientific literature to put forth best practices for PPE during the pandemic.Funding Statement: This work was not funded by any agency. Declaration of Interests: The authors do not have any conflicts of interest to declare.