Coronavirus: FG orders Turkish Airline to put crew members under observation … Faces difficulties tracing Italian co-passengers
The Federal Government on Monday vowed to deal with any foreign airline that violated coronavirus screening procedures for passengers arriving in the country.
The Minister of Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika, was said to have given the warning in Abuja at the inter-ministerial meeting on coronavirus.
A source at the meeting stated that the minister said airlines that failed to distribute contact tracing forms to their passengers upon arrival at any of the international airports in the country would be sanctioned.
The minister stated this just as there were indications on Monday that the government was facing obstacles in tracing some of the people, who had contacts with the first coronavirus index case.
The Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire, while briefing journalists in Abuja, said some passengers, who were on the same Turkish Airlines flight with the first index case, an Italian businessman, gave telephone numbers that were not working.
Also, investigations by The PUNCH showed that ministries and departments within the Federal Capital Territory on Monday ignored safety tips by failing to deploy hand sanitisers to prevent the spread of the disease.
The Federal Government had on Friday deployed more medical personnel to international airports across the country as part of efforts to step up screening of passengers.
The deployment followed the first coronavirus case recorded in the country on Thursday when an Italian businessman, who was on a visit to Lafarge African Plc, Ewekoro, was diagnosed with the disease in Lagos.
The Italian is currently in the isolation centre at the Infectious Disease Hospital, Yaba, Lagos. Also, no fewer than 100 persons, who had contacts with him, have been identified by the Lagos and Ogun state governments.
The PUNCH reported on Monday that isolation centres in the Federal Capital Territory, Kano, Ogun and Rivers states were not ready for use.
The Kano State Government on Sunday alleged that foreign airlines at the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport refused to give screening forms to their passengers.
A source at the inter-ministerial meeting in Abuja on Monday said the aviation minister warned that everyone arriving from any part of the world into Nigeria should be screened irrespective of their social status.
According to the source, all airlines must give screening forms to their passengers, irrespective of the status of such passengers.
He quoted the minister as saying, “We will not allow them (airlines) do so (not to distribute screening forms) because we will not do that in their own country. Nigeria is taking this issue very seriously, especially civil aviation and those manning our airports.
“We will certainly deal with any airline that refuses to comply. We have the authority to do so. Also, all VIPs (very important persons) must be screened when they travel and return to the country.”
Failure to distribute forms means sabotage, says govt
Providing further explanations on what Sirika said at an earlier meeting on Monday, the Director, Public Affairs and Communications, Federal Ministry of Aviation, James Odaudu, in an interview with one of our correspondents, stated that the government would not take it lightly with any airline that did not give screening forms to its passengers.
He said, “Of course, there are sanctions that airlines will face if they fail to distribute those forms. These are forms that are meant to help control the spread of coronavirus in Nigeria and so if an airline fails to share the forms, that will amount to sabotage.
“Any airline that refuses to do that is sabotaging the government’s efforts at safeguarding the people. So it will be considered a big offence and severe sanctions will apply. But the specific sanctions, I don’t know at the moment.”
FG orders Turkish Airline to put crew members under observation
Passengers on same flight with the index case gave non-functional phone numbers
Explaining efforts to trace those who had contacts with the index case, the Minister of Health, Ehanire, said, “The airline that brought the index patient has been notified and has been advised to put the crew that came with the flight on observation.”
The minister stated, “There have been a few challenges in that some people gave telephone numbers that did not work or numbers that are said to be switched off.
“There are some of them who probably did not have telephone, like new arrivals in Nigeria that have not yet registered on any phone companies in Nigeria. But there are ways in which they can be found out.
“Some have probably left Nigeria and a day or two, but the manifest is a document to start with. The owner of the aircraft has been notified and the embassy of the index case has been notified. The World Health Organisation has been notified.”
He said there was no new coronavirus case in the country apart from the Italian being treated in Lagos.
Ehanire also said the isolation centre at the University of Abuja Teaching Hospital would be ready for use in April.
He added that the newly built intensive care unit at the hospital would be used as a temporary coronavirus isolation centre in Abuja.
He said the ICU would soon benefit from the procurement being expected to be executed by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control. He, however, said that furniture had been put in place at the ICU.
The PUNCH on Monday reported that there was no functional isolation centre at the Abuja hospital despite the Federal Government’s claim that the hospital had been designated to house an isolation centre.
Giving an update in Abuja on coronavirus in the country, the minister said that so far, efforts to locate those who had contacts with the Italian had resulted in 58 people, including the driver of the taxi that conveyed the Italian, being placed on self-isolation in Lagos and Ogun states.
He said, “There is a new state of the art emergency unit which has been under construction at the University of Abuja Teaching Hospital, Gwagwalada, and it should be completed by April. In the meantime, we are making use of the newly built intensive care unit (in the hospital) which has been equipped but it is also going to benefit from the NCDC procurement.
“As of March 1, 2020, there was no new confirmed case in Nigeria. About 13 or 14 tests have been done and except the Italian, there is no other person diagnosed with the virus.
“There were 156 passengers on the manifest of the flight that brought the index case. Port Health Services and Nigeria Centre for Disease Control have been supporting Ogun and Lagos state governments to carry out contact tracing and other response activities.
58 people in self-isolation
“Contact with the index case is currently identified as 19 in Lagos State and 39 in Ogun State. We are in touch with these contacts who are under supervised self-isolation and the states are providing them with temperature monitoring tools. The taxi driver has been identified and under observation.
The minister also called on schools not to ask pupils to come to school with face masks. He added that except in the case of an infected person, the use of face mask, especially in Nigeria where coronavirus spread had not been established than the single case in Lagos, is not necessary at this stage.
The minister added that multi-sectoral Emergency Operation Centre, led by the NCDC was activated on February 28, 2020, and it would continue to coordinate national response activities.
He also said Plateau State had carried out tests on suspected people at the NCDC laboratories.
He said, “In the past two days, NCDC has updated guidelines for health workers and advisory for the public. It is important for Nigerians to focus on the fact and not on fear or generate panic.
“Plateau State Government reported four cases of Chinese nationals on February 29, 2020 but none of the cases had any symptoms. They have all been tested at NCDC reference laboratories and were negative for coronavirus. They have been in self-isolation for 14 days.”
On the actual amount needed to combat the virus, the minister said there was no fixed budget and that effort would be provided as event unfolded.
He added, “Not all coronavirus infections come in the same way. Some run without symptoms, some are infected but you do not see it (symptoms). Others are infected and what you see are slight cough and fever. Others fall desperately ill. The majority of those infected do not have symptoms but there is a problem that they could infect those with no immunity. These are emerging fact about the disease.” Punch
