A position statement and practical guide to the use of particulate filtering facepiece (N95, FFP2, or equivalent) respirators for South African health care workers exposed to respiratory pathogens including M. tuberculosis and SARS-CoV-2

Executive summaryInitial recommendations for protecting health care workers (HCWs) against COVID-19 were based on an early and incomplete understanding of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) transmission; namely, that it occurred mainly via large respiratory droplets (>10 µm) that were inhaled into the nasopharynx, directly inoculated onto mucous membranes, deposited on the skin and transferred by direct contact, or transferred indirectly by infected fomites. There is now substantial evidence to show that transmission by aerosol (particles