1. In health care workers performing upper GI procedures, regardless of coronavirus 19 disease (COVID-19) status, AGA recommends use of N95 (or N99, or PAPR) instead of surgical masks, as part of appropriate PPE.
2. In health care workers performing lower GI procedures regardless of COVID-19 status, AGA recommends the use of N95 (or N99 or PAPR) masks instead of surgical masks as part of appropriate PPE.
3. In health care workers performing upper GI procedures, in known or presumptive COVID-19 patients, AGA recommends against the use of surgical masks only, as part of adequate PPE.
4. In health care workers performing any GI procedure, regardless of COVID-19 status, AGA recommends the use of double gloves compared with single gloves as part of appropriate PPE.
5. In health care workers performing any GI procedures with known or presumptive COVID-19, AGA suggests the use of negative-pressure rooms over regular endoscopy rooms when available.
6. For endoscopes utilized on patients regardless of COVID status, AGA recommends continuing standard cleaning endoscopic disinfection and reprocessing protocols.
7. All procedures should be reviewed by trained medical personnel and categorized as time-sensitive or not time-sensitive as a framework for triaging procedures.
8. In an open access endoscopy system where the listed indication alone may provide insufficient information to make a determination about the time-sensitive nature of the procedure, consideration should be given for the following options: a telephone consultation with the referring provider or a telehealth visit with the patient or a multidisciplinary team approach to facilitate decision-making for complicated patients.
