On November 25th, the sixth edition of Technical Guidelines for Epidemic Prevention and Control for Airlines, the Chinese aviation authorities are suggesting cabin crew wear disposable diapers. The advice is meant to limit the use of lavatories while flying to and from high-risk destinations
A section on PPE advises cabin crew on flights to and from high risk countries to wear “medical masks, disposable double-layer medical gloves, goggles, disposable hats, disposable protective clothing and disposable shoe covers ”. The advice comes from the CAAC’s guidelines for crew and is listed in the section on Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). It is meant to reduce the risk of infection, presumably by minimizing surface contact for staff.
Aircraft bathroom design was already a hot topic before Covid-19, but the pandemic has focused efforts on finding new solutions.
Japanese airline ANA announced earlier this year that it was testing a prototype of a new hands-free toilet door. Meanwhile, Boeing has successfully filed for a patent on a “self-cleaning sink” that would use UV light to clean 99.9% of germs from the bathroom after each use.
Chinese domestic aviation has made a remarkable recovery. It is already back to near-full capacity from 2019. On December 9th, the entire country of 1.393 billion people recorded only 12 new coronavirus cases. Its economy appears to have succeeded in creating the much-desired V-shaped recovery more optimistic projections had foreseen at the beginning of the crisis.
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