Enugu activates airport surveillance against COVID-19 variant
The Enugu State Ministry of Health, on Thursday, conducted a simulation exercise at the Akanu-Ibiam International Airport, to prepare for potential infectious disease outbreaks.
Following the news of the outbreak of the new COVID-19 XEC variant in Australia and 22 other countries, the Federal Government, through the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, alerted the Committee of Chief Medical Directors and Medical Directors.
The PUNCH reports that the ministry directed the hospital directors to “activate alert systems throughout all hospitals for a high index of suspicion in patients with COVID-like symptoms.”
Also, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention told The PUNCH on Wednesday that the filling of health declaration forms remained mandated for Nigeria-bound passengers.
To prepare for potential outbreaks, the Enugu State Ministry of Health held a two-day simulation exercise to sensitise workers and other stakeholders on the importance of vigilance and collaboration in preventing the spread of infectious diseases through the airport.
The Commissioner for Health, Prof Emmanuel Obi, said the simulation exercise was crucial to enhance readiness to keep Enugu State and Nigeria safe, particularly during peak travel seasons.
He highlighted the ministry’s use of the integrated disease surveillance and response mechanism, built on international health regulations to manage infectious disease outbreaks.
Prof Obi underscored the airport’s significance as an international entry point, noting that Enugu State had developed a public health emergency contingency plan to mitigate the risk of infectious diseases entering Nigeria through the airport.
“Now, Enugu State has had its share of infectious disease outbreaks and the ministry of health, using the mechanism of the integrated disease surveillance and response, continually mitigates and manages infectious disease outbreaks.
“So, one of the pillars of IDSR is point of entry and we have come to recognise that in Enugu State, we have a very significant point of entry which is the Akanu-Ibiam International Airport.
“The airport is an international airport, meaning that people fly in straight into Enugu and invariably straight into Nigeria from different parts of the world, right into Enugu.
“Enugu is a point of entry into Nigeria and also a point of entry for infectious diseases into Nigeria.
“In Enugu, we have developed what is called a public health emergency contingency plan and the reason for that is to ensure that we can mitigate again infectious diseases if they happened to come into Nigeria through the Enugu airport,” he said.
Prof Obi said beyond developing the health emergency plan, there was also the need to work with the authorities and other agencies at the airport to carry out the simulation exercise.
Speaking during the exercise held at the Nigeria Safety and Investigation Bureau and subsequent simulation exercise at the airport tarmac, the State Epidemiologist, Dr Ogbodo Okechukwu, said the event was to ensure effective disease/other health-related events preparedness and response, especially at the point of entry.
Okechukwu added that the training was also to help all the units in the airport to coordinate response during an emergency.
“It is easy for a disease to spread from the United States of America to Nigeria within 24 hours, especially this festive period when a lot of people are moving around,” he said.
He highlighted the urgent need to train cleaners and provide them with adequate protective gear, adding that they were critical in disease management and prevention.
