aWith the fresh outbreak of Ebola in Congo, coupled with the directive from the Federal Executive Council (FEC) that surveillance activities at all land and airports borders across the country be stepped up, all passengers travelling through the country’s airports must henceforth go through medical screening.
Dropping this hint at the weekend, the general manager, Corporate Communications at the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Mrs. Henrietta Yakubu while speaking to the Nigerian Tribune, said apart from medical screening to be conducted by the Port Health Services located within the airports, that vaccination certificates of passengers will be thoroughly scrutinized with thermal scanners to be used to check their temperature.
In the course of the screening, passengers whose temperatures are found abnormal will be immediately isolated with further checks carried out on them.
Besides the screening, sanitizer shave also been kept in the toilet facilities with hand gloves made available for workers.
Yakubu who said there should be no cause for alarm declared that with the experience of the American/Liberian born diplomat, Patrick Sawyer who imported the deadly disease to Nigeria, that FAAN was fully ready to nip any chance of a repeat in the bud.
Her words: “There is no cause for alarm, as we are fully ready to nip any chance of a repeat in the bud. We have never relaxed our surveillance mechanism since the last incident. At our airports, all passengers are screened for the possibility of being a carrier and if there is suspicion with respect to any passenger, such passenger will be isolated and thoroughly checked.
“All passengers travelling through our airports must first go through a medical screening being conducted by the Port Health Services. At this point, vaccination certificates of passengers will be thoroughly scrutinized and thermal scanners will be used to check the temperature of the passengers. Those whose temperatures are abnormal will be isolated and further checks will be carried out on them.
“Also, sanitisers have been kept in our conveniences, gloves have been made available for staff and we are sensitizing the airport community afresh about the need to be watchful and safety conscious.”
Yakubu while saying the authority has embarked on enlightening its workers at the airports particularly the international airports on required information about the Ebola virus and how to ensure they are well protected in case of contact with a carrier of the disease.
“To start with, there is a saying that once beaten, twice shy. For us in FAAN, the Patrick Sawyer saga is a sad story, which should never be allowed to repeat itself under any guise. This is why the Authority in conjunction with relevant agencies thought it wise to make the procedure that was used in combatting the virus a permanent part of our facilitation process at all international airports.
Speaking on efforts the authority have put on the ground to ensure those coming from Congo are given adequate monitoring while flying into Nigeria, the FAAN image maker replied:”You will recall that the process we used in arresting the situation in 2014 was globally commended. The same process has been fully deployed at all international airports.
All passengers travelling through our airports must first go through a medical screening being conducted by the Port Health Services. At this point, vaccination certificates of passengers will be thoroughly scrutinized and thermal scanners will be used to check the temperature of the passengers. Those whose temperatures are abnormal will be isolated and further checks will be carried out on them.
Also, sanitisers have been kept in our conveniences, gloves have been made available for staff and we are sensitizing the airport community afresh about the need to be watchful and safety conscious.”
Admonishing air travellers and other airport users, Yakubu while advising them to go about their normal activities without any fear, stated:”As we have systems in place to identify carriers and contain any possibility of spread. They should be safety conscious and should comply.”