The new research article, which was published by American Journal of Infection Control, is based on data collected at a large tertiary care academic center in Boston from June 15 to Aug. 31, 2020. Over the course of the study, the researchers tested a total of 35 3MTM brand N95 respirators for fit and seal. From the 35, seven of the N95 respirators were tested for filtration efficiency.

Look for CMS and accrediting organizations to start fully enforcing the agency’s recent interim rule requiring all staff at hospitals and other healthcare facilities to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 after the Supreme Court stayed an injunction that barred implementation.

Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker announced on Monday that residents are now able to use a QR code to access the My Vax Records tool on the COVID-19 SMART Health Card platform, offering a digital repository for vaccination status. They can enter their name, birth date and e-mail address or phone number to create the account, which offers the same data as a paper record.

Supreme Court justices hearing emergency arguments about an injunction stopping enforcement of a CMS interim final rule requiring hospital and other healthcare workers to be vaccinated against COVID-19 seemed to lean toward the side of CMS on Friday.

CDC guidance on quarantine and isolation for those who have been exposed to someone with COVID-19 or people who test positive for COVID-19 has changed several times since the beginning of the pandemic. Under certain circumstances, the new guidance reduces the amount of time that people must quarantine or isolate themselves from 10 days to five days.

The recent study, which was published by JAMA Health Forum, is based on an analysis of fee-for-service Medicare inpatient data for more than 31 million beneficiaries and more than 14 million hospitalizations from January 2019 through February 2021.