NICE published three rapid COVID-19 guidelines on 21 March. What do the guidelines recommend for use of personal protection equipment and what can we learn from other countries who faced the same challenges as we do regarding availability?

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As the pandemic progresses and the number of patients needing treatment in the hospital setting increases, one thing that has been on the minds of many healthcare professionals is personal protection equipment (PPE), and more pressingly, face masks. The ongoing debate on whether the hospitals are running out of them raises some important questions: what type of masks do you need in primary care? What about critical care? What do the guidelines say? What can we learn from the experience of other countries who seem to have the outbreak under control to at least some extent?

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has published three rapid COVID-19 guidelines on 21 March (NICE, 2020a; NICE, 2020b; NICE 2020c). In the critical care guideline, the clinician is asked to follow the UK government guidance on infection prevention and control measures once they identify a patient with possible COVID-19 (NICE, 2020a).