As a result of an increase in the supply of N95 respirators, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a guidance letter on April 9, to health care facilities and providers recommending they transition away from the reuse of decontaminated disposable respirators as a crisis capacity strategy during the COVID-19 pandemic. The FDA had the following three recommendations for health care facilities: 1) limit the use of decontaminated disposable respirators; 2) transition away from crisis capacity strategy for respirators; and 3) increase inventory of NIOSH-approved N95 respirators.
On the same date, the CDC updated guidance on optimizing N95 respiratory supplies due to limited supply for healthcare settings.