That’s why, despite cutting services to China, airlines are taking precautions to help protect crews and passengers from the mysterious virus. Here’s what you need to know.

The CDC advises airlines to monitor passengers for symptoms

In late January, the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a list of recommendations for airlines. The actions listed are not mandatory, but they suggest useful practices for the transport sector, especially when it comes to protecting crew members.

One of the most important steps is reporting sick passengers to health officials.

Federal regulations require airlines to report ill travellers with certain symptoms to the CDC before landing in the United States. Passengers who have been in China with a fever that’s lasted for more than 48 hours, or a fever plus a cough, difficulty breathing, or who appear “obviously unwell”, all fit the criteria, even on flights that are not directly from China.

Upon landing, CDC officials can make contact with the possible patient, and take steps to monitor or, if needed, quarantine other passengers if they’ve been exposed.

The rest of the CDC’s airline recommendations have to do more with normal day-to-day flight routines. Flight attendants should wash their hands with warm soap and water or alcohol-based hand sanitiser, offer a face mask to sick passengers, wear gloves when dealing with any body fluids, and clean disinfected surfaces.

Airlines are taking extra precautions on top of what health officials recommend

Airlines are taking additional measures to prevent the virus from hitching a ride.

Hong Kong airline Cathay Pacific said it would no longer offer hot towels, pillows, blankets, reading materials, or duty-free sales on its flights to mainland China, CNN reported. The airline said it would reconfigure how it serves in-flight meals and snacks.

Thai Airways is outfitting crew members with masks and gloves when flying to “high-risk” areas, and all planes returning from China are being fully disinfected after the flight. Japan Airlines said that cabin crews would wear masks on international and domestic flights.

United Airlines said that it was communicating the CDC’s guidance with flight crews, and said it had equipped aircraft flying to high-risk regions with “supplies that enable flight attendants to safely provide assistance” for sick passengers.

The airline said it was also cleaning hard surfaces touched by passengers – lavatories, galleys, tray tables, window shades and armrests – with a disinfectant after each flight, a procedure that was adopted after the 2014 Ebola outbreak. That’s in addition to periodic deep cleanings that include ceilings, overhead bins and everything else in the interior of the plane.

American Airlines said it was offering safety equipment and tweaking its safety policies for flight attendants. Although the CDC hasn’t recommended that airline crews wear masks, and the airline does not typically allow flight attendants to wear masks without permission, the airline said that flight attendants could wear them on flights between the US and Asia, Australia and New Zealand.

American also said it was providing hand sanitiser for flight attendants, and sanitising wipes for customers on trans-Pacific flights who want to wipe down surfaces themselves.

“The safety of our customers and team members remains our top priority,” an airline spokesperson said. “We are in close contact with the US Customs and Border Protection, Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, and public health officials, and will continue to coordinate with them on any required health and safety-related measures.”

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This article originally appeared in Business Insider.