Coronavirus: Turkish Airlines suspends flights to Nigeria
Samson Echenim is business a.m. correspondent providing coverage for maritime, aviation, travels and hospitality. A former business correspondent at the Punch and Leadership newspapers, he has a vast experience in business reporting. Samson can be reached on samhapp2000@yahoo.com and +2348037363024
Turkish Airlines has announced that it has cancelled all flights to Lagos, Abuja and Port-Harcourt in Nigeria due to outbreak of coronavirus in the country.
The airline, which brought the Coronavirus Italian index case into Lagos, Nigeria on February 27, said in a statement, Tuesday that the cancellations would affect flights scheduled to arrive Lagos on March 17, 23 and 29th, while flights for Abuja scheduled for March 13, 16th, 20th, 25th, 27th and April 1, 2020. Also, flights for Port-Harcourt will not operate on March 11, 13th, 18th, 25th and 25th.
The carrier did not state when it will resume flights to Nigeria, which announced her second coronavirus case on Monday, but stated that the action was taken “in view of the corona virus situation all over the world”.
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) had predicted that airlines face a loss of over $113 billion globally as a result of the deadly coronavirus.
Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Monday, announced that the country had recorded a second case of coronavirus. The new case is one of those in contact with the index case in Ogun State.
NCDC stated, “The other development is that contact tracing and monitoring in respect of the coronavirus index case presently receiving treatment in Lagos, has been diligently and conscientiously pursued since 27
February when the case was first diagnosed. A total of 217 contacts were linked to the index case. Of the 217, 45 travelled out of Nigeria and 172 are presently in Nigeria. Of the 172 contacts currently in
Nigeria, 69 are in Lagos, 40 in Ogun and 52 in other States, with 11 in unknown locations.
“Nevertheless, the Federal Ministry of Health, following best practice, decided to test these persons for possible presence of coronavirus in their systems. On 8th March 2020, scientists confirmed the
presence of coronavirus in one of the contacts. It is my duty therefore to announce a new case of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Nigeria The newly confirmed case is an Ogun State contact of the
index case, but he has no significant clinical symptoms. This brings the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Nigeria today to two.”