17 experts and 3000 papers: why Australia’s PPE guidance has changed

Dr Philippa Hore co-chaired a panel tasked with resolving the vexed issue
Dr Phillipa Hore
Dr Phillipa Hore.

Getting a dozen clinical experts from a variety of specialties to come to a common agreement on any subject isn’t easy. 

But what happens when it’s on the totemic subject of airborne transmission of COVID-19 and what needs to be done to protect doctors and their families from infection?

The advice from the Federal Government’s Infection Control Expert Group (ICEG) over the past 12 months has been contentious, not least its suggestion that doctors need respirators only for aerosol-generating procedures.

The AMA has described the advice as irresponsible, pointing to 2600 health workers infected as a result of their day jobs during Victoria’s second wave last year.