An aviation expert, Mr Olumide Ohunayo, on Tuesday lauded the collaborative efforts of the Federal, Ogun and Lagos State Governments for their timely responses to the first case of Covid-19 (Coronavirus) recorded in Nigeria.
Ohunayo gave the commendation in Lagos on Tuesday.
He said that their joint efforts had assisted Nigerians in no small measure.
The Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire, had on Feb. 27 confirmed that an Italian citizen working in Nigeria and returned from Milan, Italy to Lagos, on Feb. 25, 2020, was tested positive to the virus.
Ohunayo, a member of the Aviation Safety Round Table Initiative (ASRTI), said: “It is commendable that Nigeria speedily detected the case and is presently addressing the issue.
“What am happy about is the collaboration among the tiers of government, because the Federal, Ogun and Lagos States are working simultaneously to ensure that those who had contact with the Italian are located.
“This is the period we all have to put aside our religious, ethnicity and status to fight the endemic disease as one Nigeria,” he said.
Ohunayo said proper profiling of passengers by looking at the manifold bodies of an aircraft began from the point of origin from any of the Coronavirus prone countries.
He said this would be part of measures to reduce spread of the virus, adding that team of medical personnel should also be stationed at the foot of the aircraft to screen passengers before entering the terminal.
Ohunayo said: “We have to signal to Ethiopian Airlines to be more careful, because their airlines are still operating in China.
“And, there is need for us to check all flights of Ethiopian airlines, irrespective of the destinations they are coming from.
“It is our job that every hand must be on deck and ensure we get more health officials on ground till the viral outbreak is addressed.
“Now that we have a reported case in Nigeria, what is important is control, and government should also facilitate other partners to support Nigeria,” Ohunayo added.
The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) had on Monday, added more thermal screeners at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos, for intensive and thorough screening of all arriving passengers.
Mrs Victoria Shin-Aba, Manager, MMIA, said the thermal cameras had been increased to ensure that every passenger was well screened and no one escapes screening.
Shin-Aba said that with more cameras, they would be able to capture temperature of the passengers, thereby helping to reduce long queues and attend to all the passengers.
The airport manager assured Nigerians that if there was a confirmed case, the airport authority has in place an area where such one can be attended to.
