Man dies aboard Lagos -Mumbai flight

A 42-year-old man suddenly collapsed and died due to natural causes aboard Air India's Lagos-Mumbai flight on Sunday.

Air India's flight AI 1906 departed Lagos in Nigeria at 7pm Indian Standard Time on Saturday and landed in Mumbai at 3:45am on Sunday.

"A passenger aboard AI 1906 of June 13 from Lagos to Mumbai passed away due to natural causes today. 

A doctor aboard along with our crew, trained to handle such medical emergencies, made a valiant attempt to revive the passenger, aged 42, who had suddenly collapsed, through resuscitation etc but all their efforts went in vain," the airline's spokesperson said.

The High Commission of India in Abuja had on Saturday announced the departure of 231 evacuees aboard the Air India aircraft to the Asian country.

COVID-19 : Lagos records over 1000 recoveries

The total number of recoveries from the coronavirus disease has risen to 1,047 in Lagos State. This was after discharging 22 patients today.

The Lagos State Ministry of Health gave the update on its Twitter handle on Friday, saying the patients were discharged after they tested negative to the infection.

“22 fully recovered COVID-19 Lagos patients; 6 females & 16 males were discharged from our Isolation facilities to reunite with the society.

The patients; 9 from Onikan, 2 from Gbagada, 1 from Agidingbi, 6 from Lekki, 1 from FCC and 3 from LUTH Isolation Centres were discharged after testing negative to COVID-19.

With this, the number of COVID-19 cases successfully managed & discharged in Lagos has risen to 1047,” the ministry wrote.

Lagos recorded 354 new cases on Thursday as the total confirmed cases of coronavirus in Nigeria rose to 14,554.

Lagos has 6,611 confirmed cases, 1,047 recoveries and 67 deaths.

The total number of active cases in the state and the number of patients at the isolation centres in the state were not disclosed as of the time of this report.

Residents were urged to continue practising physical distancing, good personal hygiene and use of face masks in public places.

Lagos : Gas tank detaches from moving truck, falls off bridge

Tragedy was averted in Lagos State  as a gas tank got detached from a moving truck and fell off the bridge in Ijora area of the state.

It was really an accident that could have claimed lives. It took place along the area known as Ijora under bridge this afternoon, June 12.

A gas tank attached to a truck detached itself and fell off the bridge. Thankfully, no one was under the bridge when it landed.

Men of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority LASTMA have since arrived at the scene to manage the traffic resulting from the accident. Efforts are being made to remove the gas tank from the road.

COVID-19 : Discharged cases exceed 1000

With the release of 31 more patients from Lagos isolation centres, over 1000 coronavirus patients who have fully recovered from the virus have now been discharged in the state.

The State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu announced this in a statement. He said the total number of patients that have been successfully managed at the state's isolation centres and discharged is now 1,025.

“Good people of Lagos, today, 31 fully recovered ‪#COVID19 Lagos‬ patients, 25 males and 6 females, were discharged from the Onikan, Gbagada, Agidingbi, Lekki and Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) isolation facilities to reunite with the society.

The patients, 6 from Onikan, 4 from Gbagada, 2 from Agidingbi, 6 from Lekki and 13 from LUTH isolation centres were discharged having fully recovered and tested negative to ‪#COVID19‬.

With this, the number of ‪#COVID19‬ confirmed cases that have been successfully managed and discharged in Lagos has risen to 1025,” he said.

Lagos is the epicentre of coronavirus in Nigeria and currently, the state has a total of 5,729 out of 12,233 confirmed cases in the country.

Meanwhile, the state Commissioner for Health, Prof Akin Abayomi has said that the state may run out of bed spaces in less that one month if it continues to record a high number of cases daily.

900 Britons stranded in Nigeria to be evacuated - UK

900 more British travellers who are stranded in Nigeria are set to return home on three flights chartered by the United Kingdom government. This was contained in a statement on the website of the UK government obtained on Sunday.

According to the statement, the new flights are scheduled as follows – May 29: Lagos – London, June 1: Lagos – London and June 6: Abuja – London.

The statement added that :

“The additional charter flights have been arranged for British travellers, and their dependants, whose primary residence is the UK. Priority is given to the most vulnerable travellers, for example people with health conditions.

Once completed, these additional flights will bring the total number of people flown back to the UK from Nigeria on government charter flights to around 2,000, following flights arranged last week from Lagos and Abuja to London.”

The statement also quoted UK’s Minister of State for Africa, James Duddridge, as assuring that the UK government would continue to work closely with its Nigerian counterpart. Duddridge said,

“Our next phase of UK government charter flights will mean another 900 British travellers are able to return home from Nigeria. We appreciate this has been a difficult time and will continue to work closely with the Nigerian authorities to support those wishing to return to the UK.”

It also urged British travellers to visit the Nigeria Travel Advice pages for further information.

“The UK Government is working with the airline industry and host governments across the world to bring British travellers home as part of the plan announced by the Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab on March 30.

There is up to 75 million Pounds available for special charter flights to priority countries, focused on helping the most vulnerable travellers.

So far, charter flights have returned British travellers from countries including India, the Philippines, Ecuador, Bolivia, Nepal, Ghana, Tunisia, Algeria and Peru,” the statement added.

COVID-19 : Lagos enlists 600 patients for chloroquine clinical trials

Lagos State Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr Gbenga Omotoso, on Saturday disclosed that the state had enlisted 600 patients for the planned chloroquine clinical trials. The state discharged 45 more patients on Saturday.

Omotoso said an independent board, which would be inaugurated, would monitor the process and give necessary advice to the state government on the progress of the trial. Omotoso said,

“In summary, we will be looking at about 600 patients. The trial will go on till we recruit the required number. There will be an independent Data and Safety Board. The board can advise that study be discontinued if the statistical evidence of the usefulness of a drug is overwhelming and in which case it becomes unethical to withhold it from other groups.”

Also, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has said the state was better able to handle COVID-19 given the experience it had with Ebola six years ago.

“That was also epic in Lagos and it gave Lagos some understanding about how serious infectious disease could be managed. We have an Infectious Disease Hospital in Yaba and even after the Ebola case, we had some international grants and over the last two to three years, we have built what we call a biosecurity lab level four, which can match any of its kind in the world,” he said.

Lagos Doctors call off strike

The Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) has asked its members in Lagos to return to work with effect from Thursday, May 21, 2020.

The NMA had asked its members to down tools following alleged police harassment of doctors as they commuted to and from work during a night curfew.

The curfew had been put in place to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus. However, the NMA had said the curfew had left doctors confused because they were being harassed by police during curfew hours even though they should be exempt as ‘essential workers.’

That has now been cleared up after the police issued a statement late Wednesday.

The union of doctors says it has now received assurances that healthcare workers would be exempt from the curfew and would be allowed to move freely.

In a statement, the NMA Lagos branch said the industrial action “is hereby reversed and our members are hereby directed to resume work from 6 p.m. today”.

FAAN begins fumigation of Abuja, Lagos and Port-Harcourt airports

The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) says it has commenced fumigation of International Airports in Lagos, Abuja and Port-Harcourt ahead of reopening of flight operations in Nigeria. Mrs Henrietta Yakubu, General Manager, Corporate Affairs of FAAN, made this known on Tuesday in a statement in Lagos.

Yakubu explained that the fumigation exercise was in line with the efforts to contain the spread of Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic ravaging the world. She said though, it was not yet clear when the ban on flights would be lifted, the authority was taking the proactive steps.

“This is to ensure the safety of passengers and other airport users when the airports eventually reopen. . “In March this year, the authority embarked on a similar exercise of disinfection and fumigation of all the international airports,” she said.