COVID-19: 93 passengers onboard Turkish air yet to be trace, says FG

Fred Ezeh, Abuja

The Federal Government on Friday, disclosed that 93 passengers onboard the Turkish airline that brought the Italian that tested positive for coronavirus (Convid-19) are yet to be traced.

It said that so far, only 55 persons had been traced and actively being monitored by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) and Port Health Services for possible symptoms of the virus.

It, thus appealed to the yet-to-be-traced passengers onboard the aircraft to voluntarily submit themselves to appropriate authorities for further medical examination.

Minister of health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, who addressed journalists in Abuja, on Friday, confirmed that the epidemic is still spreading like wildfire in other countries of the world, and advised intending travellers to high-risk countries to shelve their proposed trip if possible, to avert further infections and spread of the coronavirus.

He said: “Of the 148 passengers on the manifest of the index case flight, 55 are actively being followed up. The NCDC and the Port Health Services are constantly in touch with them to monitor their temperatures and possible appearance of COVID-19 symptoms.

“We have also used all available methods to track those that we can track. Our specialists, epidemiologists are tracking, looking for them asking neighbors and others that can help.”

World Health Organization (WHO) Officer in Charge of Nigeria, Clement Peters, in his remarks, asked Nigeria to adopt unique strategies to tackle the outbreak and not to adopt measures being used by other countries with stronger and sophisticated health care system.

Meanwhile, in a skeletal presentation, the Deputy Director, Special Duties, NCDC, Dr. Priscilla Ibekwe, noted that “for the first 28 days of the response, a budget of about N1.67 billion has been made for the response.”

She, however, declined request for further information on the money spent so far in response to the outbreak.