Coronavirus: WHO tracing 65 Italian’s co-passengers

The Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi, has confirmed the World Health Organisation is tracing the passengers who boarded the Turkish Airlines flight with the Italian man who brought coronavirus to the country.

The European, who arrived in Lagos from Milan on February 24, is currently undergoing treatment at the Infectious Disease Centre, Yaba.

“The 65 passengers who have travelled out of Lagos are being tracked by WHO and state epidemiologists because they are no longer under our jurisdiction,” Abayomi said at a press conference in Lagos on Wednesday.

“Out of the 84 based in Lagos, 49 are reachable, 35 are unreachable. We are trying our best through other means to contact them.

“The 35 passengers are unreachable because of the abnormal data they might have provided for us in their forms; wrong information via telephone numbers, residential addresses and next of kin.”

He added that 35 people who might have had contact with the Italian in Ogun State were still under the 14-day quarantine period.

He said, “I spoke with the Commissioner of Health there yesterday (Tuesday) and so far nobody has developed the symptom. Six people from the hotel he lodged in Lagos are also being monitored. The drivers that were involved are also being monitored. We don’t have any case at the moment. Nobody is in isolation except the index case. Four people have been tested so far, three were negative, one positive.”

‘Why we can’t disclose the patient’s name’

The Commissioner said it was against the medical ethics to disclose the name of the coronavirus patient (Italian man).

He said, “We cannot give out information about the identity of the patient; it is against our practice as medical professionals, unless you get it from somewhere else, you won’t get it from me. What value is it to you? Would you like me to give your own private information out to the public? It is against our ethical rules of engagement, we can’t do that, there is patient-doctor confidentiality.”

The commissioner added that out of the 149 passengers that boarded the plane with the Italian, 84 of them were based in Lagos, while 65 have travelled out of Lagos.