As part of measures to curb the spread of Coronavirus (COVID-19), Nigeria is to decontaminate not less 123 aircraft and 15 airports.
Already, two of the aircraft have been decontaminated, Environment Minister, Muhammad Mahmood said in Abuja on Wednesday during the daily briefing by members of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 Control.
Responding to the slow place of the decontamination, Mahmood said: “Aviation sector is such a specialized sector. We cannot rush things. I did say that we have mapped out 125 aircraft and 13 airports.
“So far, we have decontaminated and disinfected two aircraft. Why we are not rushing it is because of the nature of the industry.
“It is a place that when it comes to safety, everything must be followed carefully, and even when we want to do that, we have to follow their lead as to how and where to go while decontaminating the aircraft.
“For the airports, we need to be led on where we need to go, how and when we need to also. The decontamination is ongoing because there are other facilities that we are decontaminating across the country. So, we will go as soon as they are ready for us.”
Since the outbreak, a multi-sectoral emergency operations centre, led by NCDC, has been meeting to coordinate response to the pandemic in the country.
The use of face masks has been recommended in addition to other measures such as social distancing and hand hygiene to prevent the further spread of the coronavirus in the country.
