China continues to pull out all the stops in her determination to avoid any exponential growth in the numbers of coronavirus variant cases. In one of the more notable efforts, disinfection of cross-border trains has come to pass in southerly Guangxi Province.
A year ago, the world witnessed the first defining moment of the epidemic that was the image of disinfectant being sprayed en masse in to air in Wuhan, a sight which brought home the fact that we were being stalked by an invisible killer.
Ever since, China has stopped at nothing to prevent the spread of COVID. And that of course includes extensive measures at border controls, steps to sanitize not only people, but also vehicles.
But disinfecting an entire train by conventional means would take hours. As a result, an innovative solution to the problem has been recently introduced at the border of China and Vietnam.
The T8702 train departs from Pingxiang in Guangxi Province each day at 06:05 on its return journey to Nanning, having crossed into China from Dong Dang in Vietnam that is just a few kilometres short of the Friendship Pass border crossing.
It is in Pingxiang where passengers’ entry formalities are carried out, before they get back on their freshly-disinfected train. This now takes place at speed on the Chinese side of the border, as the train passes though a purpose-built disinfection facility that recently went into operation.
As the train approaches, a series of spray jets are activated, located in the track below and on poles mounted on either side. In a few seconds, the jets do the job of disinfecting the train’s entire exterior that with manual labour would take 20 or 30 people an hour or more.
State news agency, Xinhua, has released a video of the disinfection process in action, which can seen via this link.
That takes care of the disinfection of trains coming into China, but what about aircraft?
At present, the exterior surfaces of incoming aircraft are not subject to disinfection procedures.
For now, the assumption is that the virus cannot survive on the exterior of an aircraft in the thin air at 35,000 feet and at a temperature of minus 60 degrees Celsius.
But the possibility that it might remains. The Nanjinger earlier today spoke with an industry insider at Nanjing Lukou International Airport, who said, “The fact that we haven’t seen it does not necessarily mean it does not exist”.
