A Nigerian passenger who was billed to travel from Lagos to Asaba on Air Peace flight on Friday was stopped and isolated by the airline’s Coronavirus screening team when they discovered that he was very sick.
An informed source close to the airline disclosed that the passenger was supposed to travel on Monday but deferred his flight to Friday probably because he was too sick to travel.
On Monday, Air Peace deployed personnel at every airport it operates to check passengers’ temperature and subject them to hand sanitization 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.
The source also disclosed that the passenger, who was immediately denied flight, 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).
Toyin Olajide, the Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Air Peace, 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 who strictly monitor passengers checked in by agents, especially since the Coronavirus became a global pandemic.
“A passenger who we learnt came into the country from the UK and was very sick was stopped by our screening team when he was found to be very sick and we referred him to NCAA, FAAN and Port Health.
“Our records showed that he was supposed to travel on Monday but he moved his flight to Friday but because 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 sanitizer before boarding our flight. He was not allowed to board our flight and was immediately isolated.
“We made sure he did not come to Air Peace counter and for the fact that he was checked in by proxy, we suspected he had something to hide. All those who are checked in by agents are closely monitored by our staff. We commend government for what it is already doing to curtail the spread of this coronavirus but Nigerians expect government to intensify efforts to stop the spread. We are collaborating with the government to ensure that the disease is stopped from spreading in the country. We also commend our staff for its vigilance without which this case would not have been detected,” Olajide said.
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