The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) says it will intensify screening of inbound and outbound passengers at the international airports.
Mr Sam Adurogboye, General Manager, Public Relations, NCAA, said in Lagos on Friday that the authority has adequate screening equipment on ground.
The Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire on Friday confirmed the first case of Coronavirus, code-named COVID-19 in Lagos.
The virus was brought into Nigeria by an Italian citizen, who works in Nigeria. He returned from Milan, Italy to Lagos on Feb. 25.
The COVID-19 infection was confirmed by the Virology Laboratory of the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, part of the Laboratory Network of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control.
Adurogboye said that the health checks put in place by the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) were the same standard practices globally accepted.
He said: “There is a collaborative programme at all our gateways to screen inbound and outbound passengers at the International airports.
“The Port Health, an arm of the Federal Ministry of Health, Lagos State Health officials, Airport Authorities health and Security officials are involved.
“For as long as we are not closing down our airport to flights, we will not rest on our oars in screening passengers to prevent infected individual from coming in,” he said.
Gov. Babajide Sanwo-Olu of the Lagos State had at a press briefing said the case was the first to be reported in Nigeria since the outbreak in China in January 2020.
Sanwo-Olu said the Italian citizen was said to have fell ill on the Feb. 26 and was transferred to Lagos State Biosecurity Facilities for isolation and testing from a health facility in Ogun.
He noted that the patient was presently in strict isolation and in stable condition.
The governor said efforts were ongoing in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Health and WHO to identify all persons who might have come in contact with the patient.
Sanwo-Olu said these include the airline management, other passengers who were on board the same flight, the company which the patient had business with.
