MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 31st January, 2020) The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) said on Friday it continued assisting the international response to the novel coronavirus, originating in China's Wuhan, through its Collaborative Arrangement for the Prevention and Management of Public Health Events in Civil Aviation (CAPSCA) � a program uniting countries and international organizations.
ICAO's electronic bulletins on the coronavirus are available on the CAPSCA website.
"ICAO is also calling on governments to comply with ICAO's Standards and Recommended Practices concerning the preparedness and management of public health emergencies. These were detailed in ICAO's first Electronic Bulletin dated 24 January," ICAO said in a statement.
As the World Health Organization declared on Thursday a pubic health emergency of international concern over the outbreak of coronavirus, the ICAO recommends its member state to monitor WHO's updates on the situation and follow the guidance.
"ICAO recognizes the urgent and important value of cooperation, coordination, and reliable information to help control the international spread of contagious outbreaks such as the Coronavirus," ICAO Secretary General Fang Liu said, as quoted in the UN agency's statement.
ICAO also urged the member states to collaborate with all the national and international stakeholders to "keep updated with recent developments in both the aviation and public health sectors."
The new strain of coronavirus was first detected in December in Wuhan and has since spread to 19 countries. The epidemic has already left 213 people dead and over 9,000 infected in China.
