Infection Prevention and Control in Aviation during COVID-19 Pandemic—A Qualitative Study

Abstract

Introduction: Many flights were cancelled due to the pandemic of COVID-19, but air travel remains essential, including transportation of personnel and supplies necessary to support COVID-19 response and recovery efforts, infection prevention and control measures in aviation are critical to protect the health and safety of crews and passengers. Methods: As the medical staff in the flight, the main author of this article participated in the task of taking overseas compatriots, overseas students and overseas Chinese back to China. This study initially proposed a series of countermeasures to the COVID-19 pandemic in aviation on the basis of the experience of infection prevention and control in the hospital and the guideline from the Civil Aviation Administration of China. Results: This study proposed a series of countermeasures to infection prevention and control of COVID-19 in aviation involving rating COVID-19 symptoms by scanning a QR code to identify suspected patients, principles of diet preparation, avoiding the peak time of dinning during flight, management of lavatory and demonstrated personal protection procedures for medical staff performing tasks during flight. The bundled interventions were put into effect through the joint efforts of crew members, medical staff and passengers. The personnel have been tested negative for novel coronavirus three times. Conclusion: The study exploited series of specialty countermeasures and offer new ideas for infection prevention and control in aviation during COVID-19 outbreak.