Cabin crew in China are being advised to wear disposable adult nappies on charter flights to high-risk destinations and avoid using the toilet in a bizarre attempt to reduce the chance of catching COVID-19, Your Content has learned.
The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) makes the recommendation for crew flying to destinations where the rate of infection is higher than 500 people per million.
“It is recommended that cabin crew members wear disposable diapers and avoid using the lavatories, barring special circumstances to avoid infection risks,” according to a CNN report that translated parts of the original guidelines.
The recommendation came alongside rules for other standard personal protective equipment, or PPE, like masks, gloves, and goggles. Those rules echoed those issued by the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC), which also call for flight crew to wear disposable gloves and facemasks.
The strict rules appear in the sixth edition of the Technical Guidelines for Epidemic Prevention and Control for Transport Airline Companies, which was released by the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) late last month.
They apply to the flights departing from places with an infection rate of higher than 500 people per million, the official document says.
This means that China-bound flights from the United States, Sweden, Lithuania, Hungary, Serbia, Slovenia, Croatia and Georgia fall under the category as of writing, according to data from John Hopkins University.
Toilets on land may also be prone to transmission.
Scientists believe coronavirus can travel through plumbing – after three families living in a high rise building in China tested positive for the virus despite never coming into contact with each other and living 12 floors apart, according to a report in September.