BEIJING, June 2 (Xinhua) -- Mei Liang, an expert from
the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), said Tuesday that more than
400 crew members on 32 flights had been quarantined as of May31 since the
outbreak of A/H1N1 flu at the end of April.
More than 250 of the crew were hospitalized and
quarantined, while another 155 were asked to quarantine themselves at home,
without specifying how many were currently under quarantine conditions, Mei said
during an Tuesday afternoon online interview with the xinhuanet.com run by
Xinhua News Agency.
She said there were about 12 to 15 crew members on
average for each Chinese airline passenger flight and about five crew members on
each Chinese freight flight.
"China faces great challenges in preventing and
combating A/H1N1 flu, as the country's 15 domestic air carriers operate more
than 1,450 international passenger flights and more than 250 international
freight flights weekly on average," She said.
Mei, also an official with the department of flight
standards under the CAAC, added that if there were passengers on board suspected
of being infected by A/H1N1 flu, the crew members would also be quarantined for
one week after returning to China.
Mei did not mention that this would affect the normal
operation of Chinese domestic airline companies, but said the administration and
local aviation agencies had stepped up efforts to prevent the spread of A/H1N1
flu, including preparing enough materials used for A/H1N1 flu prevention,
strengthening cabin disinfection, and setting up temperature inspection stalls
at airport terminals.
The CAAC had established an emergency information
reporting system within the administration with personnel on duty around the
clock. The CAAC had urged various airline carries to step up A/H1N1 flu
knowledge training to their employees, she said.
She added that all the leftover food boxes, sewage
and other garbage on inbound flights to China would be treated with great
watchfulness.
Special Report: World Tackles A/H1N1 Flu ¡¡
