Trouble as 159 passengers aboard plane with Coronavirus infested Italian remain untraceable

The Lagos State Government said it was yet to trace the 158 passengers aboard  the Turkish airliner that flew in the Italian who is Nigeria’s index case of the virus.

It restated that while some  of the passengers had travelled to other states in Nigeria, others had  gone back to Europe.

Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu stated this during a meeting with chairmen of   Local Government Councils, Local Council Development Areas, Community Development  Associations  and All Progressives Congress (APC) stalwarts  on how to effectively prevent the spread of the virus.

He  added that  some of the passengers who were contacted on the telephone, gave “false information.”

“There were 25 people who came in contact with him at the factory(in Ogun State); there were two drivers and an ambulance driver. We have quarantined those identified so far at our medical facilities and some of them at home.

“We are calling them twice a day to check if they are okay. If they develop symptoms, we will bring them to our bio-security facility for test.

“We have identified all of these people except some of the people, on the aircraft who have either gone back to Europe or travelled to  other states.

“Some of them gave us false information on the telephone. We are still trying to find the remaining passengers on that aircraft every day. Our contact list is over 100 persons and this number is increasing every day.”

Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi, said two more foreign nationals suspected to have been  infected  in Asia tested negative.

He explained that  34 Nigerians the Italian had contact with in Lagos and Ogun States  had been reached with some quarantined and others in close observation.

The governor said:”There were 159 passengers in the aircraft and six people that came in contact with him at the airport.

The governor said a series of medical examinations at the State’s bio-security facility conducted on the two foreign patients that were  brought from Ogun State over the weekend, did not show any sign of COVID-19 infection.

Sanwo-Olu  told the gathering that the Italian  was improving.

He said: “We have called for this meeting as part of proactive measures we are taking to prevent the spread of Coronavirus to our local communities. It is no more news that we are managing a case in Lagos, but the situation does not call for panic.

“We don’t want to record any loss of life to this virus. My administration places premium value on human life, which is the reason we have upgraded facilities at our bio-security centre and Infectious Disease Hospital.

“But, we believe we will achieve better results in this effort if people at the grassroots are properly sensitised on how to protect their communities from the virus and other contagious diseases.

“Government is doing its best to stop coronavirus, but Government cannot do it alone. It requires collective responsible of everybody living in Lagos to stop the virus

He said the government would maintain open line of communication with the public on the progress being made in containing the virus.