Each blog entry addressing the new coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 reflects the continuing onslaught across the globe. According to theJohns Hopkins Virus Tracker as of this writing on April 5, 2020, worldwide cases number more than 1,260,000 cases and deaths number more than 68,000. Rapid spread across the U.S. continues, with more than 331,000 cases and 9,400 deaths reported. New York continues to have by far the greatest concentration of cases and deaths in the U.S., accounting for a significant portion of each.
In response to enormous public demand and supply chain problems being encountered by disinfectant registrants, the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has now taken the following additional steps:
- Added more products to EPA List N: Disinfectants for Control of SARS-CoV-2. The list now contains over 360 products.
- Refined List N by adding a description of the surface(s) upon which each product may be used, identification of the target sites for which each product is labeled and identifying those products which authorize application via fogging.
- Incorporated by reference into List N lists previously identified as efficacious against other viral pathogens. These include List G: Products Effective Against Norovirus and List L: Products Effective Against Ebola Virus.
- Expanded by forty-eight chemicals the list of commodity chemicals used as inert ingredients in approved disinfectants that may be used as alternative sources without notice to EPA.See EPA List of Commodity Inert Ingredients
- Expanded the Frequently Asked Questions About Disinfectants Related to Coronavirus
- Expediting the process of securing Pesticide Company numbers and Pesticide Producing Establishment numbers.
EPA also continues to expedite reviews of amendments seeking to add claims for control of SARS-CoV-2, but despite the measures described above the expedited service is only for products that already have approved claims for other emerging pathogens. See Guidance on Outbreak of Novel Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. Registrants who wish to add claims for emerging pathogens for the first time still must go through the standard amendment process.