Another study finds Covid-19 can spread on long air flights

A new case study from the New Zealand Ministry of Health notes that Covid-19 can spread on long-haul flights. In September, two other international studies came to the same conclusion.

Researchers from New Zealand looked at an outbreak among passengers who had traveled on the same 18-hour Emirates flight from Dubai, United Arab Emirates, to Auckland, New Zealand, in late September. Seven of the 86 passengers on board subsequently tested positive during the 14-day managed quarantine.

The use of the mask was not mandatory during the flight. Five of the infected passengers reported using masks and gloves on the plane while two did not.

Of the seven infected passengers, five had tested negative within 48 hours before the flight. The outbreak was linked through DNA analysis to a passenger who tested negative for Covid-19 with a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test within 48 hours of the flight. That infected passenger was contagious but pre-symptomatic aboard the plane, and subsequently infected at least four other passengers.

“All seven SARS-CoV-2 genomes were genetically identical, with the exception of a single mutation in one case,” the researchers found. “Four of these six related genomic sequences came from Switzerland, the country of origin of the suspected index case.”

“By combining information on disease progression, travel dynamics and genomic analysis, we conclude that at least four SARS-CoV-2 in-flight transmission events likely occurred,” the scientists wrote. “These transmission events occurred despite the reported use of masks and gloves in flight.”

In most countries, public health officials have no way to monitor passengers after the flight. But New Zealand authorities manage quarantines for arriving passengers, meaning all passengers in the study were monitored and re-examined during their 14-day isolation.

The fact that some of the infected passengers tested negative before flight and then positive several days later during quarantine “indicates some of the complexities in determining the value of the pre-departure tests,” the team noted. “These results underscore the importance of considering all international arrivals to New Zealand as potentially infected with SARS-CoV-2 even if pre-departure tests have been performed, social distances and spacing have been followed, and personal protective equipment has been used. in flight. “

Two months ago, a couple of studies – one from Vietnam and the other from a group of multinational institutions – both found that Covid-19 is transmissible on long-haul airline flights.

“Most viruses and other germs don’t spread easily on flights because of the way air circulates and is filtered on airplanes,” according to the CDC travel guide. “However, social distance is difficult on crowded flights, and sitting 6 feet away from others, sometimes for hours, can increase the risk of contracting COVID-19.”

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