Our world has reached an agonizing milestone: the loss of one million lives from the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s a mind-numbing figure. Yet we must never lose sight of each and every individual life. They were fathers and mothers, wives and husbands, brothers and sisters, friends and colleagues. The pain has been multiplied by the savageness of this disease.
Risks of infection kept families from bedsides. And the process of mourning and celebrating a life was often made impossible. How do you say goodbye without holding a hand, or extending a gentle kiss, a warm embrace, a final whispered “I love you”? And still there is no end in sight to the spread of the virus, the loss of jobs, the disruption of education, the upheaval to our lives.
We can overcome this challenge.
But we must learn from the mistakes. Responsible leadership matters. Science matters. Cooperation matters — and misinformation kills. As the relentless hunt for a vaccine continues — a vaccine that must be available and affordable to all —let’s do our part to save lives.
Keeping physical distance. Wearing a mask. Washing hands.
As we remember so many lives lost, let us never forget that our future rests on solidarity —as people united and as united nations.
Secretary-General on grim COVID-19 milestone
As the relentless hunt for a vaccine continues, let’s do our part to save lives: Keeping physical distance. Wearing a mask. Washing hands.–UN Secretary-General António Guterres as the world reaches 1 million deaths from #COVID19.
Posted by United Nations on Tuesday, September 29, 2020
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COVID-19 and Air Transport
The ICAO Council Aviation Recovery Task Force (CART) report and recommendations are aimed at restarting the international air transport system safely and sustainably, which is crucial to the success of the broader response to the pandemic. The CART Report contains a detailed situational analysis and key principles supported by a series of recommendations focused around objectives for public health, aviation safety and security, and aviation economic recovery. This content is supplemented by the report’s special ‘Take Off’ document which contains guidelines for public health risk mitigation measures and four separate modules relating to airports, aircraft, crew, and air cargo.
The foundation of these recommendations consists of ten key principles, which include achieving the crucial need for solidarity among states and industry stakeholders.
The guidance was developed through broad-based consultations with countries and regional organizations, and with important advice from the World Health Organization and key aviation industry groups including the International Air Transport Association (IATA), Airports Council International (ACI World), the Civil Air Navigation Services Organisation (CANSO), and the International Coordinating Council of Aerospace Industries Associations (ICCAIA).
