FG assures strengthening surveillance to check coronavirus

By Haruna Yusuf
Abuja

Nigerians have been assured of Federal Government’s readiness to strengthen surveillance at the five international airports in the country to prevent the spread of Coronavirus which its origin in China.

He said attention would be given to five international airports located Enugu, Lagos, Rivers, Kano and the FCT to ensure effective monitoring of the points of entry, adding the ministry was working to check possibility of importating coronavirus to the country.

Ehanire added that the committee would help to scale up surveillance to detect suspicious cases with a view to ensuring containment.

According to the minister, the committee will comprise critical stakeholders in the health, security, aviation and transport sectors as well as development partners, given the fact that air travellers were more likely carriers of the virus.

“The risk of importation is possible in all countries. However, the ministry wishes to assure all Nigerians that the capacity to detect, access and respond to this and other public health challenges are put in place,”he said

The minister also told Nigerians that the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) had set up coronavirus group ready to activate its incident system for coronavirus if any case emerges in the country.

According to him, NCDC is currently receiving World Health Organisation (WHO) advisory to countries and agencies on surveillance and response.

He called on the state governments, particularly states hosting the international airports, to collaborate with federal government to ensure the success of the efforts aimed at checking the spread of the virus to Nigeria.

“The ministry is finalising plan to engage authorities of those states to enhance surveillance and response in their domains.’’

The Minister urged airlines to comply with protocol on any passenger who took ill or looked ill on board to be reported by authorities.

He also urged airlines and the public to call stipulated lines at the airports’ entries to share any information on the virus, and gave the telephone numbers as: 09092996283; 08095553232.

Answering questions from journalists, the minister that the country had good laboratories for testing suspected samples.

“Our laboratory testing skill is increasing and you will need reagent for any test but we do not have regent for the virus; WHO will advise countries where to send samples to,’’ he said.

Adding voice, the Director of Port Health Services in the ministry, Dr Morenike Alex-Okoh, promised that the ministry would further work with state governments for the containment of the virus.

She said that cases that would not manifest at ports, “it is very important to engage the states, while the states are expected to ensure social mobilisation to sensitise people on the imperative of visiting health facility.

Also, Dr Joshua Obasanya, the Director, Prevention and Programme Coordination, NCDC, said that the centre had been collaborating with Chinese authority in Nigeria to ensure that citizens that travelled for holiday to that country delay their return to Nigeria.

The director disclosed that NCDCHe had met Chinese authorities during which they agreed to work with the ministry.

According to health experts, coronavirus belongs to a group of viruses common among animals but it has been confirmed that it can also infect humans.

The virus initially identified by Chinese researchers with the pathogen behind a mysterious illness, it sickened 59 people in Wuhan, Hubei in 2019, a city of 11 million in central China.

The large family of viruses can cause diseases ranging from common cold to Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).

The disease has spread to Chinese cities, including Beijing and Shanghai and other parts of the globe just as authorities of that country confirmed 1,975 cases of the new coronavirus, while death toll from the virus has risen to over 100.