I was interviewed and quoted in the article, “GPs in high COVID areas should get respirators fit-tested: Experts”, written by Mr Doug Hendrie, published in newsGP.
Hendrie D. GPs in high COVID areas should get respirators fit-tested: Experts. newsGP. 2020 September 4. Available from: https://www1.racgp.org.au/newsgp/clinical/gps-in-high-covid-areas-should-get-respirators-fit [PDF]
Quotation
RACGP Expert Committee – Quality Care (REC–QC) member Dr Michael Tam told newsGP that GPs should consider wearing respirators in areas of higher virus prevalence, such as Victoria or hotspots in New South Wales.
‘If you’re wearing N95s, then you should be fit-tested – the whole point of it is that it provides higher levels of protection than surgical masks,’ he said.
‘Protecting healthcare workers is a really important part of ensuring we don’t have a disaster scenario with COVID. Requiring GPs to seek out fit-testing in the private sector makes no sense from a national response perspective – and it’s not just GPs, but specialists in the community and allied health.
‘Expecting that whole sector to fend for themselves doesn’t sound like a good approach.’
