Air Peace Identifies, Isolates Passenger with Suspected Coronavirus at MMA2

A Nigerian passenger who was billed to travel from Lagos to Asaba on Air Peace flight yesterday was stopped and isolated by the airline’s Coronavirus screening team when it discovered that he was very sick at the domestic terminal of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, known as MMA2.

An official of the airline told THISDAY that the passenger was supposed to travel on Monday but deferred his flight to yesterday probably because he was too sick to travel.

On Monday, Air Peace deployed personnel at every airport it operates in to check passengers’ temperature and subject them to hand sanitisation and anyone with high temperature was referred to Port Health.

It was when the temperature of this passenger was being checked that the airline personnel discovered that he was very sick and the temperature was very high.

The airline isolated him immediately and notified the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and the Port Health.

THISDAY also learnt that the passenger, who was immediately denied flight by Air Peace, returned recently from UK and that he had been taken to hospital where he had undertaken treatment without informing concerned authorities, the Lagos State Ministry of Health and the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).

The Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Air Peace, Mrs. Toyin Olajide, confirmed the incident and disclosed that the passenger was checked in by proxy; maybe, because he did want to be noticed to be sick, but the management of the airline had deployed staff that strictly monitors passengers checked in by agents,especiallysince the Coronavirus became a pandemic.

“Apassenger who we learnt came intothecountryfromUKandwasvery sickwasstoppedbyourscreeningteam whenhewasfoundtobeverysickand wereferredhimtoNCAA,FAANand Port Health.

“Our records showed that he was supposed to travel on Monday but he movedhisflighttoyesterdaybutbecause of the stringent measures we put in place, our staff was able to detect him. We made it mandatory that every passenger must be screened and must use sanitiser before boarding our flight. He was not allowed to board our flight, he was immediately isolated.