COVID-19 and Aviation Medical Examination

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COVID-19 and Aviation Medical Examination

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Young Hwan Kwon

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has had a significant impact on our society as a whole. The COVID-19 pandemic is not only a health crisis, it is also an economic, social and humanitarian crisis. Considering the dramatic global economic and social impact that the crisis has engendered, the aviation system is standing on the doorstep of rapid transformation. In particular, the impact on the aviation and travel industries is enormous. Air travel to most countries has been suspended and blocked. Looking at Korea’s current situation, COVID-19 has wholly changed the aviation industry. As COVID-19 spreads around the world, countries have come up with aviation safety measures. Infectious disease safety measures were established to protect passengers and crew members, and countries with collapsed medical systems extended the validity period for aviation medical examinations. In Korea, on August 11, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport provided guidance on medical measures related to COVID-19 through an official letter of “Notification of cautions for pilots and air traffic control officers (ATCO) when COVID-19 is confirmed”. Overseas countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom have announced regulations for aviation medical examination regulations in relation to COVID-19, and have set standards for returning to aviation after COVID-19 is confirmed. In this paper, we would like to investigate the regulations for aviation medical examination related to COVID-19.