The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, has directed aviation authorities to place 46 persons who had contact with an Ebola patient on a no-fly list for at least 21 days as part of measures to prevent the potential spread of the virus.
Keyamo disclosed this in a statement following a virtual meeting with the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Professor Muhammad Ali Pate, to discuss the Ebola outbreak.
According to the minister, the list comprises 44 persons who came in contact with the affected individual at a hospital after she had developed symptoms, as well as two members of her domestic staff.
He said the individuals were being isolated pending confirmation that they had not been infected with the virus.
“Whilst efforts are ongoing to isolate them for now until there is certainty they had not been infected with the virus, the Aviation authorities are required to put them on a no-fly list for at least 21 days (which is the period that the symptoms are normally expected to manifest),” Keyamo said.
To enforce the restriction, the minister said he had directed the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) to immediately notify all local and international airlines of the development.
He also directed the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) to strengthen Ebola response measures and surveillance protocols at all international airports in the country.
Keyamo said measures already being implemented by FAAN include enhanced health screenings, temperature checks, tracking of travellers’ histories, digital health declarations and closer coordination among relevant agencies.
He added that the measures were being implemented in collaboration with the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC), following earlier regional outbreak alerts.
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