City airports welcome assisting medics on charter flights
One of the charter flight lands.
Shanghai's Pudong and Hongqiao airports have received 26 charter flights with medical teams from seven provinces and cities – here to assist in the city's fight against COVID-19.
The first charter flight from central China's Henan Province landed at Hongqiao airport at 2:46pm on Sunday, greeted by airport controllers waiting on the tarmac.
Other charter flights landed at the two airports through midnight on Sunday, the Shanghai Airport Authority said.
More than 20,000 medics from across China have arrived in Shanghai to help in the treatment of the surging number of COVID-19 infections and conduct citywide nucleic acid testing on Monday.
With most airport staff under lockdown, the airport authority dispatched a 23-member emergency support team from Pudong airport to Hongqiao airport, which handled most of the charter flights of domestic medical teams.
After the landing of each aircraft, all the staffers on the tarmac had to rush to help unload the luggage, which included vital medical supplies.
The mobile stairs and trailers were disinfected. Coaches drove to the tarmac to pick up the medics and take them to their accommodations directly.
The assisting medical teams, including polymerase chain reaction (PCR) sample collection personnel, are primarily from neighboring Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Anhui provinces, as well as Tianjin City, central Hubei and eastern Jiangxi provinces.
Many of them are collecting PCR samples and assisting patient treatments at 10 local designated and makeshift hospitals.
One of the charter flight lands.
Unloading the cargo.
Airport staff make preparations on the tarmac.
A coach with medics who arrived on a charter flight leaves the airport tarmac.
An airport staffer works after the landing of a charter flight.
Airport staff help with putting the cargo into a coach.
Luggage is removed from a charter flight.
A charter aircraft is seen with its cargo of medical supplies and luggage.
Charter flights taking medical teams from across China and supplies have been landing at the city's Hongqiao and Pudong airports.
