The ANSI Federation and standardization community are stepping up with guidance, resources, and initiatives to support public health, safety, and infrastructure during the COVID-19 outbreak. ANSI is monitoring sharing, and promoting appropriate news to highlight these efforts. Suggestions for news items may be submitted to [email protected]. All submissions are published at ANSI's discretion.
ASHRAE Issues Guidance for Residential Buildings
As heating, ventilation, air conditioning, and refrigeration (HVAC&R) systems play an important role in minimizing the spread of harmful pathogens, ASHRAE’s newly posted residential building guidance supplements the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s guidance with general recommendations for minimizing virus transmission through the air while using a home’s HVAC equipment and controls.
ASHRAE’s website provides additional details and the most up-to-date information on residential buildings, as well as answers to frequently asked questions.
The association also recently posted guidance for re-opening buildings, covering ventilation and filtration, inspection and maintenance, and system evaluation, among other considerations.
Johnson & Johnson Launches Global Phase 3 of COVID-19 Clinical Trial
Johnson & Johnson has announced that it has launched Phase 3 trial (ENSEMBLE) for its COVID-19 vaccine candidate. The company reports that it will develop and test its COVID-19 vaccine candidate in accordance with high ethical standards and sound scientific principles.
The ENSEMBLE trial follows positive interim results from Johnson & Johnson 's Phase 1/2a clinical study, which demonstrated that the safety profile and immunogenicity after a single vaccination were supportive of further development. Based on those results and following discussions with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, ENSEMBLE will enroll up to 60,000 volunteers across three continents and will study the safety and efficacy of a single vaccine dose versus placebo in preventing COVID-19.
“We remain fully focused on developing an urgently needed, safe, and effective COVID-19 vaccine for people around the world,” said Paul Stoffels, M.D., vice chairman of the executive committee and chief scientific officer, Johnson & Johnson. “We greatly value the collaboration and support from our scientific partners and global health authorities as our global team of experts work tirelessly on the development of the vaccine and scaling up our production capacity with a goal to deliver a vaccine for emergency use authorization in early 2021.”
The company reports that it anticipates the first batches of a COVID-19 vaccine to be available for emergency use authorization in early 2021, if proven to be safe and effective.
Read more information and find out about the company's technology platform via Johnson & Johnson's press release.
Philips Offers LinkedIn Live Session Webcast on COVID-19's Impact on Young Healthcare Professionals
The working lives of younger doctors are changing as they treat patients during the coronavirus outbreak, and Philips has created an on-demand webcast that covers the challenges these healthcare professionals face, and the evolving role of technology as the pandemic progresses.
Philips chief medical officer Jan Kimpen and head of medical office cardiology & DACH Jennifer Franke hosted the live LinkedIn session last month, and viewers can now access the content on demand.
"How has COVID-19 affected younger healthcare professionals?" also covers the latest Philips' Future Health Index research and highlights the key lessons for healthcare leaders planning for the years ahead, with an audience Q&A.
Access the session via Philips.com.
See more ANSI member efforts in the ANSI COVID-19 Resource Webpage Highlighting Standardization Community Response.