COVID-19: Astronauts in International Space Station safe from Coronavirus infection

Washington : As the world is fighting the coronavirus pandemic, there is a sigh of relief of astronauts on International Space Station. According to the scientists, the highly communicable virus cannot affect the astronauts, thanks to the enhanced safety measures taken by the space agencies.

"Throughout a pandemic, these actions have been reinforced numerous times, quarantine procedures for astronauts as well as cosmonauts have been expanded, quarantine steps have been presented for everyone who collaborates with them, individual communication is limited, including with the media, and also the number of teams functioning straight with astronauts has been decreased," the registered nurse pointed out.

"Presently, all the initiatives of area agencies are targeted at stopping the entrance of any type of infection onto the ISS, consisting of the coronavirus," Batsmanova, who is also an elderly registered nurse of the clinic 'European Medical Center' and a nurse at International SOS, told Russian news agency Sputnik in an interview.

Batsmanova has been working closely with NASA from nearly a decade now and provides clinical support to astronauts during the area launches and touchdowns. 

She clarified that before going into space, astronauts live in quarantine for a long time prior to flying, and all points sent out to the ISS are decontaminated.

"Under no conditions ought to any kind of infection get onto the ISS, because the station has a shut-loop as well as its own atmosphere, and the team is much from the ground. Today all the hard procedures essential for this are being complied with," Batsmanova ended.

More than 750,000 people have been infected with the COVID-19 virus and over 36000 people have died of it. 

"Taking into account the enhanced safety and security actions, the possibilities for the coronavirus to hop on the ISS are slim to none," she said.