Face Coverings
NOTE: Household Cleaners Should Not Be Used to Disinfect Face Coverings.
Please See Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Recommendations below.
Director's Order for Facial Coverings Throughout the State of Ohio (07/23/2020)
Defines exemption list for facial coverings
Facial Coverings (Masks)
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) provides guidance for making, wearing and washing cloth face coverings to help slow the spread of COVID-19. Depending on the frequency of use, all cloth face coverings should be routinely washed using soap and water following these directions.
- Use Face Coverings to Slow the Spread of COVID-19 (06/28/20)
- Do it Yourself Face Covering (Factsheet)
- How to Protect Others (07/31/20)
Train Workers on Proper Respirator or Mask Use
COVID-19 Information on Decontaminating Facepiece Respirators Protecting Against COVID-19
According to guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), decontamination is not approved as standard of care for disposable filtering facepiece respirators (FFRs), such as N95 masks, used to protect healthcare personnel from the spread of COVID-19. However, the agency says this may need to be considered to ensure availability during a pandemic. The CDC offers extensive guidance at its Decontamination and Reuse of Filtering Facepiece Respirators web page.
- Decontamination and Reuse of Filtering Facepiece Respirators (CDC updated 08/04/2020)
- Optimizing Supply of PPE and Other Equipment During Shortages (07/16/2020)
- Strategies to Optimize the Supply of PPE During Shortages
- ASTHO Optimizing PPE Supplies with Decontamination and Reuse (03/27/2020)
- ODH COVID-19 Information on Decontaminating Facepiece Respirators Webpage
- National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) Reccommended Guidance for Extended Use and Limited Reuse of N95 Filtering Facepiece Respirators in Health Care Settings