As the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic accelerates, the supply of personal protective equipment remains under strain. To combat shortages, re-use of surgical masks and filtering facepiece respirators has been recommended. Prior decontamination is paramount to the re-use of these typically single-use only items and, without compromising their integrity, must guarantee inactivation of SARS-CoV-2 and other contaminating pathogens.
This work was supported by a grant from the Walloon Region, Belgium (Project 2010053 -2020- “MASK - Decontamination and reuse of surgical masks and filtering facepiece respirators”)