On March 1, the Joint Prevention and Control Mechanism of the State Council held a press conference to notify the general public of the efforts made by China to effectively stem the influx of COVID-19 patients from abroad. According to Zhu Tao, Director General of Department of Flight Standard of CAAC, in view of the spread of COVID-19 in some countries and regions, CAAC has developed different measures for different regions and at different levels, in a bid to prevent and control the epidemic. Taking into account, among others, the epidemic development and the flight operation at certain foreign countries, CAAC identifies flight operation risks and conducts differentiated management to ensure precise prevention and control, as well as meticulous adoption of measures.

To avoid the spread of the epidemic through aircraft, CAAC has taken a series of measures, including stepping up the ventilation and disinfection in aircraft and airports, checking the body temperature of departing and arriving passengers, strengthening the personal protection and health management of front-line personnel, including crew members and security check personnel, and issuing prevention and control guidance for airlines and airports. As a result, positive results were achieved in the epidemic prevention and control. At present, in view of the epidemic spread in some countries and regions, CAAC has developed different measures for different regions and at different levels, in a bid to prevent and control the epidemic. Meanwhile, CAAC has taken the initiative to share its proactive and effective practices and experiences in epidemic prevention and control with international community by providing the competent civil aviation authorities and relevant operating departments in South Korea, Japan and some other countries with the Technical Guidance for Epidemic Prevention and Control for Airlines and Airports for their reference. CAAC is negotiating with relevant countries to harmonize the standards on which the epidemic prevention and control measures by the civil aviation sector are based, thus allowing countries concerned to take prevention measures of the same rigidity to jointly prevent the epidemic spread.

In addition, CAAC will further enhance its cooperation with ICAO, facilitate the efforts by ICAO to improve the international standards and guidelines governing the joint response by the global civil aviation community to the epidemic, and provide guidance to civil aviation authorities of various countries on how to deal with public health emergency following the unified standards.

CAAC will continue to coordinate with national authorities including Ministry of Foreign Affairs, General Administration of Customs and National Immigration Administration to jointly prevent and control COVID-19.

Regarding the issue of Chinese citizens stranded abroad, Zhu Tao said that CAAC has developed an international flight plan coordination mechanism which is intended to coordinate the weekly flight planning by Chinese and foreign airlines. The flight plans will be issued regularly to provide necessary support for the transport of Chinese and foreign passengers and the supplies. In the next step, taking into account the changing epidemic development, CAAC will maintain close contact with Chinese embassies and consulates abroad and if necessary, send overtime or charter flights to pick up the Chinese citizens stranded abroad.