As the Omicron variant spreads rapidly around the world, the airline industry has raised concerns. While this new strain of Covid-19 could be less dangerous, it would, on the other hand, be much more transmissible. The International Air Transport Association, which represents 300 carriers worldwide, has warned of the increased risk for passengers of being contaminated on the plane, Les Échos report.
The organization recommends health measures adapted to the highest transmissibility of the Omicron variant. And this, even if the ventilation systems of planes would considerably reduce the risk of contamination. To Bloomberg, David Powell, the consultant doctor for the International Air Transport Association, pleaded for a strengthening of barrier gestures in public places, transport, or at work, and for new precautionary measures on the plane faced with a “risk of transmitting the virus two to three times higher with Omicron”. For David Powell, it is necessary to “avoid face to face contact and frequently touched surfaces” between passengers.
>> To read also – Covid-19: the Omicron variant should be “in the majority” in France “between Christmas and New Year”
The doctor nevertheless recalls that the airplane is “an environment with very high air flow” and therefore that the risk of contamination there “is low”. “But any flight you take also involves airports, which are a little less controlled. So there is a risk there,” he recalls. Indeed, according to the specialist, the air flow on board planes is much higher than in airports before the ventilation rates represent “perhaps a tenth of what they are on the plane”.
>> Read also – Covid-19: the Omicron variant now very much in the majority in the United States
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