The Nigerian aviation authorities have commenced intensive contact tracing of over 300 passengers who were aboard the British Airways Boeing 747-400 plane that flew in the third case of COVID -19 (Coronavirus) in Nigeria on Friday.
According to reports, officials of the agencies – the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) and the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria ( FAAN)- at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, Lagos are scrutinising the forms filled by the passengers on arrival with a view to keep a watch on them.
Additionally, officials of the Federal Ministry of Health, their counterparts in the Lagos State Ministry of Healh, the Nigeria Immigration Service ( NIS) and the Nigeria Customs Services ( NCS) are also said to be involved in the task.
TheNewsGuru, TNG gathered that the manifest of the BA passengers has been provided to the aviation officials to aid all efforts to ensure that no one was left out. He said the airline was cooperating with the government officials.
Findings revealed that an average Boeing 747-400 aircraft can convey maximum capacity of 345, including the crew.
The third case, a 30-year-old Nigerian lady who stays with her parents was taken to the Infectious Disease Hospital (IDH) in Yaba.
Her nuclear family members are also quarantined at the same centre where three new suspected cases are being observed by health workers.
Health Minister Dr Osagie Ehanire and the Lagos State Health Commissioner Prof. Akin Abayomi had at separate news briefings in Abuja and Lagos yesterday, said the lady obeyed the instructions on the prevention of the virus by confining herself to their home.
They assured that the their ministries and relevant agencies had moved to ensure that all those that had direct and indirect contact with the lady were traced.
Ehanire said: “The stringent surveillance efforts of the Federal Ministry of Health (FMoH) have identified a new case of Coronavirus disease within our borders, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in Nigeria to three.
“The latest case is a Nigerian national in her 30s, who returned from a short visit to the United Kingdom on March 13.
“Fortunately, she decided, upon returning home, to go into a 14-day self-isolation, but subsequently developed symptoms of fever and cough on March 16, at which point she voluntarily called the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) toll-free call line, to report her condition.
Lagos State Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) was immediately dispatched to her home to collect samples, which upon testing, came out positive for the coronavirus.
“The lady is currently at the Infectious Disease Hospital (IDH) in Yaba, where she has remained clinically stable and is responding to treatment.
“Intensive contact tracing has begun, to help identify all persons who the patient has been in contact with since her return.
“We expect the number to be small, because of her sensible decision to go into self-isolation from the time of her arrival. We commend her for following the recommended guidelines to the letter.”
In Lagos, Abayomi also confirmed that contact tracing of all the passengers on the BA flight had started. He implored all those on the flight to reach out to his ministry through its emergency number.
The commissioner explained that out of the three persons suspected to be COVID-19 carriers, one was a Nigerian and the others foreigners.
The Nigerian, according to him, returned from the United States on March 10 through Middle East and thereafter developed symptoms of high fever and body pain.
The second person, according to him, returned from the UK on March 12 .