Ahmad Lawan, the
President of the Senate, on Thursday, accused the Federal Ministry of Health of
not putting serious measures in place to prevent the outbreak of coronavirus in
Nigeria.
He, however, asked the
Senate Committee on Primary Health Care to liaise with the ministry to
intensify screening of passengers at the nation’s airports and seaports.
Lawan stated this
following a point of order by the Deputy Senate Leader, Senator Ajayi
Boroffice.
Boroffice drew the
attention of the Senate to the failure of health personnel at the airports and
seaports to screen passengers coming into the country.
The senator said the
coronavirus screening at the South African airport usually takes up to 30
minutes before passengers would be allowed to disembark the aircraft.
He said the situation was
different on his arrival at the Nigerian airport, when the health officials at
the nation’s airports merely issued a form to passengers to indicate if they
were sick or not.
He said, “There is no
form of any screening of passengers for coronavirus by Nigerian officials at
the airport.
“It’s worrisome,
situations where travelers coming into the country were not dully screened for
the dreaded virus based on his experience at the airport.”
However, in response to
the points raised by the senate, the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria said
adequate measures have been put in place to ensure proper screening of
passengers arriving in the country.
FAAN stated that no
passenger at the international wing of the Port Harcourt International Airport
would be allowed to leave without going through the necessary medical checks.
Head, Corporate Affairs
of FAAN, Port Harcourt International Airport, Mr Alfred Itua, said, ‘’All I
have to say is that at the international wing of the Port Harcourt
International Airport, we have thermo scanner, which is used to scan the
temperature of arriving passengers.
‘’For staff and
travellers using the airport, there are sanitizers for washing of hands. There
are hand gloves and masks for medical staff who are working there.”
However, the first case
of the deadly Coronavirus was confirmed in Lagos, Southwest Nigeria, the State
Government confirmed early Friday morning.
It was brought in by an
Italian citizen who entered Nigeria on the 25th of February from Milan, Italy
for a brief business visit.
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hahahahaha gov of blame the fingers are now pointing backward
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