Table 2

Sources hand-searched for peer-reviewed literature

SourceDetails of source and methodology
Evidence collections

  • Evidence Aid33

  • BMC34

  • NEJM35

  • Springer36

  • Lancet13

  • Elsevier107

  • BMJ108

These are curated evidence collections, editorials, guidelines and news pieces available from major publishers and evidence groups.
Collections were hand-searched for all articles until 6 April 2020.
Google Foam23Google Foam is a search engine of Free Open Access Medical Education, including blogs, podcasts, journal articles and social media posts.
Google Foam was searched for relevant articles until 8 April 2020.
COVID-19 Expert application24This is a digital application that is used by clinicians, which collects articles, guidelines and hospital policies related to COVID-19.
COVID-19 Expert application was searched for relevant articles until 8 April 2020.
Preprint databases

  • Channel: COVID-19 SARS-CoV-2 preprints from medRxiv and bioRxiv28

  • Open Science Forum: Preprint Archive Search for COVID-19 or 2019-ncov29

Preprint databases are advanced sharing platforms to provide open access to articles prior to publication. Their articles are not yet peer reviewed.
The references from the first 100 articles on each preprint database were hand-searched to identify relevant peer-reviewed articles on 8 April 2020.
Published guidelines4 5 25–29

  • CDC recommendations

  • National Personal Protective Technology Laboratory Personal Protective Equipment Conformity Assessment Studies and Evaluations

  • JAMA Clinical Guidelines Synopsis

  • Public Health Agency of Canada guidelines29

  • Infection Prevention and Control Canada guidelines28

  • American College of Emergency Physicians position paper4

  • Canadian Association of Emergency Physician PPE position paper5

These guidelines include clinical care guidelines for patients with COVID-19, position papers on PPE as well as recommendations for extended use and limited reuse of N95 filtering facepiece respirators in healthcare settings.
The references from the cited guidelines were hand-searched to identify relevant peer-reviewed articles.

  • BMC, BioMed Central; BMJ, British Medical Journal; CDC, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; JAMA, Journal of the American Medical Association; NEJM, New England Journal of Medicine; PPE, personal protective equipment.