Sick passenger on Air Peace flight causes coronavirus panic

A video clip of a sick passenger on an Air Peace flight from Lagos that landed at the Aminu Kano International Airport, Kano, on Tuesday caused fear of a COVID-19 spread in the city.

The one-minute-four-second clip suspected to have been recorded by an airport staff, has background voices saying the pilot had refused to allow the passengers disembark because he suspected coronavirus.

The voices commended the pilot for his supposed action, “as the case may spread the virus to Kano where many people see COVID-19 as conspiracy or media hype. The best thing is the flight should return to Lagos. Since there are confirmed cases in Lagos, or Gwagwalada.”

However, the special adviser to governor Abdullahi Ganduje on Media, Salihu Tanko-Yakasai, said the passenger’s sickness was not a case of COVID-19.

According to him, the pilot refused to open the doors when the plane landed after a passenger was reported to be vomiting, pending the arrival of CDC experts who examined the person and found his was a case of flight phobia, being a first-time air traveller.

“The CDC team also took precautionary measures by spraying the entire plane and passengers with disinfectants,” Mr Tanko-Yakasai added. “They equally took details of the passengers in case of any issue that might arise afterward.”

READ ALSO: #Coronavrius: UEFA postpones club competitions indefinitely

Also commenting on the development, the co-chair, Kano State Task Force on COVID-19, Abdulrazak Habib, told journalists that a preliminary test-run on the patient returned negative and he did not have symptoms of COVID-19.

‘’The case is a young man of 17-years old and a first-timer boarding aircraft. The boy boarded the aircraft for the first time and developed phobia,’’ said Mr Habib.”

Mr Habib said the boy was discharged after his data was taken.