Abstract International air travel has been highlighted as a concern since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic with respect to importation of cases. We summarise the available evidence for in-flight transmission of wild type SARS-CoV-2 during 2020, and for imported COVID-19 clusters to cause outbreaks. This paper provides a data baseline prior to the emergence of new mutations causing SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern, whose characteristics may increase the potential risk of in-flight transmission and imported outbreaks. The evidence on in-flight transmission of wild-type SARS-CoV-2 is limited, and is described in a small number of published reports. Most of the available evidence pertains to the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, during a period without non-pharmaceutical interventions such as distancing and in-flight mask wearing. There is considerable potential for outbreaks of COVID-19 from imported cases or clusters when public health guidance around quarantine of travellers and self-isolation of cases is not adhered to. Risks can be mitigated by measures such as: avoiding non-essential travel, targeted testing and quarantine of travellers from high incidence regions or regions of concern, managed quarantine processes, and protocols for rapid investigation and control of transmission from a possible variant of concern. Measures should be dynamically assessed and proportionate to the level of risk. Graphical abstract Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12992-021-00749-6.
【저자키워드】 COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, quarantine, Air travel, Port health, 【초록키워드】 public health, Mutation, protocol, quarantine, COVID-19 pandemic, variant, SARS-CoV-2 variant, risk, Intervention, Transmission, Outbreaks, Region, Characteristics, SARS-CoV-2 variants, outbreak, Travel, Cluster, incidence, wild type, imported cases, Guidance, Evidence, protocols, health guidance, Self-isolation, Abstract, supplementary material, early phase, potential risk, measure, wild-type SARS-CoV-2, flight, MOST, described, provide, baseline, 【제목키워드】 Transmission, outbreak, Cluster, Evidence,