AUTHOR=Zou Yifan , Zou Yuliang , Dart Anthony M. , Zhang Yuping , Wang Yousen , Fan Fenling 

TITLE=An Effective Protocol for Management of International Arrivals at Risk in COVID-19 Pandemic: Experience From the Pre-Hospital Covid-19 Response Teams at Xi'an, China

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Public Health

VOLUME=Volume 10 - 2022

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/public-health/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2022.753640

DOI=10.3389/fpubh.2022.753640

ISSN=2296-2565

ABSTRACT=Background: The COVID-19 outbreak within China has been well controlled and stabilized since early April 2020. Therefore, the current major focus in China is to prevent introduction of COVID into China from international arrivals. In order to achieve this pre Hospital COVID Response Teams (pHCRTs) have been established. 
Context:  A pHRCT was established in Xi’an, China in early 2020. During the 12 months covered in this report, there were 356 international flight arrivals with over 5000 COVID-19 Nucleic Acid Test (NAT) positive people, 500 of them with symptomatic COVID requiring admission to special hospitals. All other arrivals were managed in dedicated facilities by pHRCT teams. The outcome measure of this report was the number of positive cases amongst the pHRCT. 
Details: 442 staff worked in the pHCRT during the reporting period. Despite multiple throat swab PCR tests during their pHRCT tour of duty and the subsequent mandatory 14-day quarantine required before return to the general community, no staff become NAT positive. 
Conclusion: The Prevention of community transmission from imported cases is a vital part of the strategy to maintain low numbers of cases in countries, which have achieved control, or suppression of local, internal cases. The program of pHCRTs described in this paper gives successful protocols for transportation of infectious patients based on minimal transmission and staff safety. The strategies employed may prove useful in future pandemics.