TheCable

Osagie Ehanire, minister of health, says the Italian who brought coronavirus into Nigeria underwent proper screening at Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos.

The victim, whose identity has not been disclosed, arrived in Lagos on Monday, via a Turkish Airline flight from Istanbul.

Some Nigerians had said the incompetence of health official at the airport made the patient access the country without being detected.

But at a press briefing, Ehanire said no symptom was identified in the victim at the time of the screening.

“He walked through the screening with no symptom. By the time he got to his house, I think a day or two after, he started to feel unwell and, wisely enough, went to a hospital and there the doctors examined him,” he said.

“So, it is not that it is a failure of screening. The screening went very well. The information I have this very morning is that he is stable, so all people will not be equally severe.”

At another briefing in Lagos, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, governor of the state, corroborated Ehanire’s account.

“Investigations showed the virus did not manifest in the patient at the time he passed through the airport,” Sanwo-Olu said.

He added that emergency and health workers are already those who came in contact with the patient, disclosing that the state’s bi0-security facilities have been fortified to test and contain other potential cases.

He added that the state is doing everything that needs to be done to prevent the spread of the disease and that every health intervention required is currently being given to the patient.

“We are in constant touch with the company where the patient was engaged. The management and personnel of the company have been cooperative,” he said.

“Health workers and emergency officials are on the field to track all persons that had physical contacts and interaction with the patient. Our bio-security facilities have been fortified to continue any form of test and contain any other potential case.

“We are in constant touch with the federal ministry of health to harmonise our response to the incident. For us in Lagos, we are doing anything that needs to be done. The patient is stable and every health intervention required is currently being given to him.”

He said the incident prompted the government to “immediately trigger advanced end-to-end screening for passengers flying into Nigeria, especially from high-risk countries”.

Sanwo-Olu said the state will not place a ban on public gatherings unless there is a high level of escalation in person-to-person infection.